


Dysfunctional

by PowerOptix



Series: The Dysfunctional Saga [2]
Category: Toontown Online
Genre: 2007 Fic, F/M, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, and a whole boatload of OCs, written when Toontown Online was still owned by Disney
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 10:58:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11462172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PowerOptix/pseuds/PowerOptix
Summary: A Cog and a Toon? It'll never work.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **This was a fanfiction originally written for and posted on the MMO Central Forums, back when it was still called the Toontown Central Forums. This is the reason for any and all mention of "sign ups" in the future chapters. The idea was that people could submit their Toon for a guest spot in a fanfiction as a why to get more invested.  
>  As this fic is well over and done with, obviously no signups. :p**

Mercedes Paw, a tall, red bear clad in a pale blue shirt and black trousers turned around to make sure her students were all present and accounted for. As far as fighters went, she was not particularly powerful. A 48 Laffer, she could hold her own against most of the higher level Cogs but would not stand much of a chance against the Cog Bosses without the Cold Callers Guild’s help. But she did not mind. While most Toons continued to fight the Cogs, Mercedes had opted instead to train new fighters instead.

The Toons that assembled before her now were a group of ten 15 Laffers. They had yet to fight their first Cog and by the looks on their faces were eager to do so.

“Try and stay together, everyone, there shouldn’t be any Cogs out this late, but if you do get separated, give us a toot on your whistles.”

A brown hand was raised.

“Yes, Ted?”

The brown bear, Teddison Carter was dressed in a blue t-shirt and red shorts. “Miss? Aren’t we going to get to fight Cogs?”

“Not yet, Teddy, this is just a tour of the neighbourhoods.” She smiled at their disappointed faces. “Come on, follow me.”

The group hustled after her. She took them through Toontown Central to Donald’s Dock. They’d just entered Daisy’s Garden when a series of whistles sounded ahead.

The young Toons exchanged nervous looks. Mercedes looked concerned.

“Stay here,” she told them. “I’ll go and check it out.” Mercedes reached into her gag bag and gave them a selection of higher-level gags to defend themselves with. “Just in case.” Then she ran off into to the dark.

Teddy swallowed. “We don’t have any training in these gags.”

“Miss Paw said it was unlikely for Cogs to be out this late. Just relax, we’ll be fine,” Chicken McNugget, a lavender duck clad in dark turquoise dress and shirt with dark blue stripes assured him.

“Yeah, what she said. Besides, it can’t be that much different to a cupcake, right?” said Lolly Dolly, a small pink mouse in a purple dress.

“Don’t forget, we can always run,” added Bubbles Pop, a light blue rabbit in a green jumper and maroon jeans.

 

* * *

Mercedes Paw sprinted to where she had last heard the whistles. The red bear rounded a corner and ground to a halt, a look of shock contorting her features. Nine Toons were sprawled out across the street. Mercedes ran to the side of nearest Toon and turned her over. It was Antoinette O’Toole, her teaching assistant. That meant the other Toons were the rest of her class.

Mercedes wiped a tear from her eye, pushed the hood of Antoinette’s grey hoodie out of the way and began to pat the yellow dog lightly on the cheek. “Come on, Annie, wake up.”

Her eyes fluttered open and met her friend’s concerned gaze. “Sadie?”

“What happened?”

“So. . . fast. . . “

The red bear frowned. “What?”

But Antoinette had fainted again.

“Darn!” she cursed. She couldn’t leave her unconscious students and teaching assistants here. “Double darn!” But to transport them to hospital she would have to- Wait. There was an idea; her students would have to help, even if it would traumatise them to see their friends in such a state, but at least they would get training in how to use their black holes.

Mercedes stood up and headed back.

 

* * *

The young Toons were entertaining themselves with Toon Whispers as they waited for Mercedes Paw to return.

Teddison turned at the sound of footsteps approaching. “Hey, Aunt-er, Miss Paw is back,” he got to his feet. The group followed his example.

“Um. . . why do her footsteps sound so. . . harsh?” asked King Alvin Dynocrunch, a tall cyan dog in a tie-dye shirt, orange shorts with blue stripes and yellow stripe on the sides.

Chicken frowned. “Like she’s wearing something on her feet.”

Lolly swallowed. “She sure isn’t in a rush to get back to us, either.”

The Toons huddled together, reached into their Gag bags to pull out some gags and stood ready for a fight.

What emerged from the shadows was not Mercedes Paw, nor even another Toon.

The Telemarketer grinned around at the frightened Toons. “Is this a bad time?” he asked, cheerfully. “Good.”

Banana Rama, a yellow monkey in a red shirt and skirt frowned. “What’s with the scarf?”

“It’s my distinguishing feature.”

The 15 Laffers exchanged looks.

“Why would you have a distinguishing feature? I got the impression that Cogs didn’t go for individualism,” said Bubbles.

The Sellbot smiled. “It means I’m special.”

“Get ‘im!” Alvin yelled lobbing a cupcake.

Nine more Gags followed. He dodged every one.

Teddy gawked. “No way. Surely one should’ve hit him.”

The Telemarketer glanced over his shoulder at the mess of Gags splattered along the street. He smiled at them once more. “Like I said. I’m special.”

 

* * *

Mercedes Paw’s eyes widened when she heard whistles up ahead. “No. No!” Her group was in trouble. She increased her speed to flat out sprint and preyed she would get there in time.

The Telemarketer had his back to her and was standing over her unconscious students. In one hand, he held his trusty Rolodex, in the other a bag of confiscated Gags.

“NO!” she howled.

From the way he spun around to face her, he must not have heard her coming. Mercedes glanced at her students then glowered at the Sellbot.

“You’ll pay for that,” she growled.

He gave her an infuriatingly cheerful smile. “It shall be entertaining to see you try.”

The bear glanced around at the amount of Gags that littered the floor, then at the glowing health metre on his chest. It was green. From the looks of it not a single gag had hit. Granted most of them were low level Gags, which, she quickly checked her Shticker book to assess his level, against a level six Cog would have a higher chance of missing. But surely at least one would have hit. Most of her students were a pretty good shot.

Every Gag she threw at him, he dodged.

“What is _with_ you?!”

The Cog smiled. “I told your students that I was special. I didn’t say why.”

“So shoot. Why are you special?”

“I am one of few Cogs who have a prototype gear type and set up.”

“And that’s why you’re so fast? You’re. . . built differently to most other Cogs?”

“That is correct.”

Mercedes grit her teeth. “Wonderful. Just my luck.” Even though her Laff points were dropping, she was not going to give up. She could hit this Cog. She knew it. She just had to keep trying. All of a sudden, the Sellbot yelped in pain and grasped his knee. It appeared to have seized up. The red bear smirked. “Perfect,” and threw a cream pie slice at him. It hit the Telemarketer square in the chest.

“That was a cheap shot, Toon,” he scolded wiping it away.

“This coming from the level six Sellbot that picked on two groups of 15 Laffers,” Mercedes replied in an equally scathing tone. She stared at his health metre in surprise. What was up with that? Judging by the colour his health had dropped _drastically_ considering his level and that of the Gag. The red bear gave him in a smirk. “Oh I get it. So you’re really fast at the cost of being really weak. So all it takes is a few lucky shots and you’re dead.”

The Telemarketer’s fists clenched. Reluctantly, he replied. “That is correct. For increased speed, my Huff points are halved.”

Mercedes nodded and smiled. “Right. No problem. I just have to you hit once more. Piece of cake.”

He smiled, tilting his head to one side. “That is, if you don’t run out of Gags first.”

The red bear scowled and prepared to throw, but she was distracted by voices from behind. The Night Watch! About time too. “HEY!” She hollered and waved to get their attention. When she heard the sound of fast approaching footsteps, she turned back to finish the Telemarketer off. But he had vanished. Mercedes looked around, surprised. “ . . . Where’d he go?”

 

* * *

The Chief Executive Officer, a dark brown suited archaic Big Cheese poked and prodded at the contents of the cream pie that was before him.

What, he wondered, was the special ingredient? The one called sugar that had caused the Senior Vice President of Sales to go insane from something the Toons called a Sugar Rush. This was not what he wanted. After calming down, the VP had displayed apparent immunity to their Throw Gags, but at the same time had also gained some other, unwanted side effects. If the CEO could isolate the sugar and using it, find some way of immunising the Cogs from the Throw Gags at the very least without also reproducing the other side effects that had plagued the Sellbot Boss, the Cogs would gain an upper hand. Granted they would still be vulnerable to the other Gags, but Throw was the staple of the Toons' arsenal. They relied on them too much, he thought to himself, smirking. And this would prove to be their Achilles Heel. . .

 


	2. Chapter 1: Confrontation

Roxy McSocks had been unwell with Flew, a Toon disease that caused Toons to float uncontrollably around (Roxy herself had spent the best part of two days on the ceiling) and had thus been unable to attend the Toontown Tour. Chicken McNugget and few of her other friends had promised Roxy (and Mercedes) a Toontown Tour of their own so she did not miss out.

The lavender duck lived in the same estate and came over after school to check the young blue cat had everything she needed. But she had not shown up last night. The Toon picked out an orange shirt and a blue skirt that matched her fur from her wardrobe before packing her bag for school and heading into the kitchen for breakfast and then onto school.

 

* * *

Her classroom was empty. Could the whole class have taken ill, Roxy wondered as she headed for Student Services to find out what was going on.

“I’m afraid your class is in hospital.”

“What!?” The blue could not believe her ears. “Even Miss Paw?”

“She’s not in hospital, but I do believe she is there with them.”

“What happened?”

“Apparently they were attacked by a Cog.”

“Powerful?”

“Sort of, but he was also unusually fast.”

 

* * *

The hospital receptionist directed her to the second floor. Her classmates and Antoinette were spread out across two wards. Mercedes Paw went back and forth between them, trying to cheer her students up so they could get better quicker. Roxy was greeted by a collection of dismal expressions. The gloom practically hung in the air. She made a beeline for Chicken’s bed and sat down on the chair next to it.

She smiled. “Hey.”

Chicken gave her a defeated look in reply. Roxy’s ears drooped and her smile faded slightly. “Oh dear, that bad?” She turned to a cat with yellow-green head and body, green arms and aqua legs. “What about you, Winky?”

Winky Dizzypop shook her head mournfully. “You’ve no idea.”

Roxy brightened. “But you talked. That’s a good sign isn’t it?”

She considered the point and managed a hint of a smile for about two seconds before slumping down further under the covers in misery.

The blue cat remained for the rest of the day, relentlessly assisting Mercedes in attempting to cheer up her classmates. Towards the end of their visit, the red bear discussed at length with Roxy and anyone who would listen what happened and her theories on the source of the Cog’s unusual speed and what disadvantages this might generate.

 

* * *

The Chief Executive Officer watched the pie turn to mush as he put it through a blender. He poured the contents into a container and began to boil it, watching the mixture froth and bubble away, steam billowing from the mixture until there was nothing left at the bottom by a white residue that he hoped was sugar. The one problem he had encountered with the plan was the fact that the sugar had been mixed into the Vice President's fuel. Standard Cogs, himself included did not have a fuel engine or anything equivalent. Furthermore all of the VP's post Sugar Rush symptoms vanished when his fuel engine was replaced with an electric one.

The CEO stared at the residue and sighed. It seemed that there was no future for this plan. Only the Toons themselves of course were immune to the harmful affects of a Gag. For a Cog to possess the same immunity, he would have to be a Toon at the same time. . .

 

* * *

Roxy McSocks glanced up at the sky. It was evening already. She sighed, pulled up the collar of her dark green duffel coat and started the trek home since her teleporting skills were poor.

The blue cat walked forward, head down and not looking where she was going. She could be forgiven for this, as it was evening after all and not many Toons or even Cogs were out during the evening.

BAM! She collided with something solid. “I’m sorry,” she sputtered, looking up. “I wasn’t-“ Her heart stopped beating.

Smiling back at her was a Telemarketer. With a scarf. Roxy stared at him, paralysed with fear. This was one who had walked all over her classmates and Antoinette.

He placed one hand on her shoulder. “Pardon me, Toon, you’re in the way.” And pushed her aside.

The blue cat watched him walk by before finding her voice. “Y. . . you’re not going to attack me?”

The Sellbot stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “Fortunately for you, no. I have all the Gags I need for today. Perhaps the next time we meet.”

He checked the space around him and, deeming it sufficient, prepared to take off.

Roxy was at a loss. A perfect opportunity to avenge her friends and she was too weak to do anything about it, even if he had not been super fast. She made a decision, set her features into a frown and rugby tackled him to the floor. The Telemarketer was taken completely by surprise and hit the ground hard. She could hear his gears spinning as he recovered but before he did, she twisted his arms behind his back so he could not get back up.

“Get _off_ me, Toon,” he hissed, struggling to break free.

The blue cat smiled as she heard his gears shuddering from the effort, trying and failing to lock into place. “My teacher said that Cogs were supposed to be strong.”

“Yes, well, I’m not like most other Cogs,” he replied haughtily.

“Yeah, Miss Paw had a lot of time to think on that. She though the reason you were so fast was because your gears are made of a lighter, thinner metal which causes a lot of problems for you, doesn’t it?”

The Sellbot glanced down at his knee in an involuntary acknowledgement of the fact. “You have me at a disadvantage, Toon. Now what?”

“Um, well. I pelt you with cupcakes until you die laughing.”

He sighed. “How predictable.”

“Well what would you do in my position? Bear in mind you put my friends in hospital. They’re all miserable because of you.”

“Better miserable than dead.”

“Dead?”

“Yes. Cogs make Toons miserable. Toons kill Cogs. I’m curious as to what you’d consider the more severe.”

“But you’re robots, can’t you be rebuil-?“

“We can be _replaced_. Unless a copy is made of their memories, which is unlikely unless they are important. . .” He shook his head. “They’re not coming back.”

“Oh. . .”

He felt her grip slacken, wrenched his arms free and threw her off. Roxy looked up at in fright from her place on the floor.

“Ah, Toons,” said the Telemarketer insincerely as he dusted off his suit. “So sentimental.” He picked a card from his Rolodex and threw it at her. Well he would have, but his arm locked in mid-throw. “What the-?” The Sellbot looked horrified when it became clear that both knees had locked as well. Neither could believe their luck. “Not _now_.”

Roxy grinned and lobbed a cupcake at him. Two more followed, taking his health down into the orange before his shoulder unlocked and he was able to complete his attack. Twelve of her Laff points were wiped in one go. Shaken, she reached for another cupcake, contemplating running or throwing it. One hit would not kill him, but one hit would put her in hospital with her friends.

The Cog seemed to sense this as well and was already reaching for another card, watching her carefully.

A distant shout drew their attention. Even from where they were, the Telemarketer’s scarf was hard to miss since it was a light blue, contrasting with the dark red of his suit. The Night Watch swiftly spotted Roxy, abandoned any thoughts of caution and ran to her rescue.

The Cog put the card back into his Rolodex and snapped it closed. “This fight is over, Toon.” Fortunately his propellers had escaped damage when she rugby tackled him to the floor. Once again he prepared to take off. And once again Roxy stopped him, only this time by throwing her arms around him. Now he was too heavy to fly away. The Sellbot made several attempts to pry her off. “Why do you _insist_ on being so difficult?” He reached into his confiscated Gag bag, pulled out a yellow feather and tickled her off him. The blue cat roared with laughter and squirmed on the floor, her Laff points regenerating. She blinked the tears out her eyes when she heard the sound of a Cog propeller starting and was in time to see him take off and head for home, just as the Night Watch caught up.

“Blast it!” Said a light blue dog, in orange shirt and red trousers. “That’s the second time he’s escaped us.”

A pink pig in a white t-shirt and brown trousers knelt beside Roxy. “Are you all right?”

She nodded.

“After your cupcakes was he?”

Not wanting to be chastised for foolishly confronting him, she nodded again.

The pig nodded. “Thought so. Wish we knew why he’s so interested in the Throw Gags.” He stood up and turned to his companions. “You guys get on with patrolling the area, I’ll make sure she gets home safely.”

They murmured their agreement and dispersed.

“Now then, what’s your name?”

“Roxy.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Walter, but please call me Wally. Now then, if you tell me where you live I can take you home. Black holes still scary, huh?”

The blue cat swallowed and nodded.

Wally smiled and patted her on the head between her ears. “Don’t worry, it’s fun when you get used to it.”

She smiled feebly and pointed to her estate in his Shticker book.

“Okay, no problem.” He threw a black hole on the floor, scooped her up and jumped in. She yelped involuntarily and grabbed his shirt. They came out a few feet from her door. Wally put her down carefully onto her feet.

“There you are,” he said smiling. “Home safe and sound, just like I promised.”

She beamed and thanked him.

“Now I’ve gotta get back. I’ll see you around,” he waved, threw a black hole on the ground and disappeared into it.

Roxy headed inside to prepare a cup of Horlicks before going to bed.

 

* * *

The Telemarketer was surprised to see the Senior Vice President waiting for him on the Launch pad. He could also see another, much smaller Cog standing next him. It looked like a. . . Big Cheese? And not just any Big Cheese judging by his dark suit, this was the Chief Executive Officer himself no less. He smiled as the Sellbot landed. “Telemarketer Sellbot 118-7 I believe.”

“That’s correct sir.”

The archaic Big Cheese spared a glance at the Vice President who had remained silent. The Sellbot Boss had a dour expression and was refusing to make eye contact or even acknowledge the existence of either Cog, instead choosing to stare at a non-specific point off to his right.

“How goes the new gear set up?”

“Uh. . . “ Considering the inventor of the “Speed Set” was standing right before him, he did not know what he should say.

“I take it that means troublesome.”

“Yes.”

118-7 and the CEO turned their gazes on the Vice President who had finally broke his silence. “The maintenance he requires is ridiculous. And since the cons far outweigh the pros, it’s a waste of everyone’s time.”

The Big Cheese’s eyes narrowed. “Thousands of Cogs lose their lives every day in this wretched war. If we can get an edge over the accursed Toons, we can win.”

“Well they may be fast but they’re so _weak_. What happens to their “edge” when the Toons invent a substance to stick their feet to the floor? They’ll be easy targets. If you want your edge, you should focus more on robustness. That’s what saves me from the long fall off the launch pad.”

The CEO’s sneered. “Yes, I understand that happens quite a lot. Most notably at the hands of lone Toons?”

That one stung the Senior VP. “What _is_ it with you and picking  out my errors? Well keep that up, Cheesy and you can have a nice long chat with the Chief Justice, since he's the _only one_ you seem to listen to,” he snarled and left.

The Big Cheese watched him leave for a moment. Since the Telemarketer could not see his face fully, he could not be completely sure, but it seemed the CEO regretted his actions. He blinked and looked back at 118-7. “Hmm? Where was I?” The Bossbot spotted the bag of Gags in the Sellbot's hand. “Oh, you have more Gags, I see.”

“Yes I do. Weren't those your orders?”

“They are no longer required, 118-7. I have no practical application for them.”

118-7 blinked and stared down at the his now useless haul.

“Now then,” the Bossbot put an arm around 118-7’s shoulders. “You were experiencing problems?”

 


	3. Chapter 2: The Naming of Cogs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **All the signups, as well as my own made up classmates will be featured more starting the next chapter. I just needed to "lay down the formula/routine" as it were. This chapter was also to explain how I name/number my Cog characters.**
> 
> **EDIT: _Apparently_ , I do not have the original doc of this chapter because it has become corrupted. ;_; I had to pull this off my DA account which is why the formatting is different.**

_Cold Caller Sellbot 118-7 flipped through 118-3’s Rolodex. He stared at the amount of telephone numbers the young Telemarketer had collected. Five and Six peered over his shoulders equally awed._  
“Can we really have these?” Seven asked.  
Three smiled. “I don’t see why not.”  
“But wouldn’t this be considered cheating?” Five asked, doubtfully.  
“The Vice President never forbade sharing, did he?” He replied confidently. “Since I did all the legwork, they’re mine to do with as I please. And I choose to give them to my younger brothers.” He looked around. “By the way where is Four?” The four of them were gathered around Five, Six and Seven’s assigned telephones. The Sales Room, vast and grey, housed several rows of phone stations, essentially a simple desk with an old-fashioned spin-dial telephone on it, black of course, with a collection of notepads for scribbling in and a supply of pens to scribble with. It was common for Sellbots to accomplish their task of plaguing the Toons with phone calls at inopportune times with friends or family. Since Four was not with his brothers, Three deduced that he had opted to go with a friend instead.  
“Four’s with 049-5,” Six replied.  
As he had suspected. “Oh well, his loss.” The Telemarketer pocketed his Rolodex when they had finished choosing phone numbers. “I’ll be back for them once I’ve finished this other task. Have fun.”  
Seven picked up one of the cards and dialled in the number. “Good evening, Miss Rolypoly,” he said in his drollest voice. “Can I interest you in a new, inflatable, gazebo?”  
Five and Six struggled to stifle their guffaws as they listened in on the conversation.  
  
Three and Seven collided as the latter left the Sales Room. He had finished his telephoning tasks and had left Five and Six to finish their still considerable amount.  
“Seven, where are you headed?”  
“Toontown Central, I have to defeat some Toons.”  
Three beamed. “Splendid, I’ll accompany you.”  
“Oh, you don’t-“  
“Nonsense! I insist.” He put an arm around Seven’s shoulders and pulled him into a sort of sideways hug. “Can’t have you disappearing on us.” His tone was outwardly jovial but Seven caught the fear hiding beneath it. First Nine then Eight had gone out to accomplish simple tasks but had never returned. They did not need to be told why.  
  
118-3 tucked his hands into his pockets and looked disdainfully around at their colourful surroundings for their first victim. “How many?”  
“Ten.”  
“Let’s get started then. That one over there doesn’t look too tough.”  
They had defeated nine Toons, popping into Cog Buildings between battles to replenish their health when it got too low, and had just started battle with Seven’s final required Toon. Three took a hit from her Squirt Gun and realised that although the Toon was a 15 Laffer she had comparatively powerful Gags. He wondered, fearfully, if they had unknowingly entered battle with an Uber.  
Seven burned her with Hot Air, before Three could consider all their options. If they ran, he would be more than likely too slow to escape before she finished him off and if they stayed and fought, she’d get him. Either way he was going down. Calmly accepting his fate, and preferring to go down fighting, he wiped another six of her Laff points with Double Talk. As he had expected, the yellow Rabbit pulled out her Squirt Gun and squirted away the rest of his Huff points. All of Three’s previous thoughts and emotions were replaced by a surge of a totally unfamiliar emotion. He roared with genuine laughter, even though at the same time he knew he was not structurally designed to handle such a laugh. For the last few moments of his life, as his internal gear setup went to heck, shooting off violently, but painlessly in all directions, Three was a happy Cog. (It was at this point that Telemarketer 118-7 awoke with a start.) Cold Caller 118-7 was traumatised. Everything that happened immediately after became a blur, but Name Dropper 564-6 found him, a sobbing wreck, huddled over the few gears he had managed to locate, an unconscious yellow Rabbit Toon a few feet away.  
  
Her hospitalised classmates and Mercedes Paw huddled around her wide eyed as Roxy McSocks recounted the tale of her close encounter with the scarf-wearing Cog. The blue Toon spun the same story she had told Wally, that the Sellbot had attacked her and not the other way around.  
She smiled around at them once she had finished and they began chatting amongst themselves about the mysterious Telemarketer that attacked them so mercilessly. They were clearly happier. Whether that was due to her and Miss Paw's efforts, no one could tell. But that was not the point. The point was that they would be out of hospital come the end of the day and class would be restarting tomorrow. Then everything would be back to normal.  
  
Roxy McSocks waved to her classmates as they headed for home. The less cheerful Toons, which included Chicken McNugget and Winky Dizzypop were staying behind for "elected overnight observation". Roxy called it laziness. Normally they would not have been allowed to stay, but considering the Toons had not even finished their training and were thus not battle ready, had been attacked by a level six, second variant Cog and one that was frightfully fast to boot, the staff decided that they could make exceptions. Movement caught her eye and she glanced up, all the way to the roof of one of the buildings. The blood ran cold in her veins. Him again. That accursed scarf-wearing Telemarketer. Just as she was about to look away, he met her gaze. And smiled. The Sellbot stepped off the roof and descended on his propellers. "Just the Toon I was looking for."  
Roxy bolted.  
"Don't try and outrun me, Toon," he called after her.  
She ignored him but looked back over her shoulder. He had disappeared! The blue Toon turned back just as she collided with something, hard. There was a _thump_ as the both hit the floor. She cursed and rubbed her injured knee. "What do you want from me?"  
The Cog propped himself up on his elbows. "Actually I just wanted to talk."  
"What about?"  
He sat up. "As you well know we are conducting research on Toons and vice versa. I have concluded that observation is not. . . good enough."  
"I see, so you want to hear it from the mouth of a Toon, is that correct?"  
"Indeed."  
Roxy scratched her chin considering. "What's in it for me? Or us?"  
"A fair exchange of information. You explain Toons and I'll explain Cogs but nothing that would compromise the other. Is that agreeable?"  
A pause as she thought it over. "All right. Shoot."  
He smiled. "Excellent." Then got to his feet. She was surprised when he offered a hand to help her up but refused to take it. The Telemarketer ignored the slight and headed back to his discarded bag of Gags. He sat down on a nearby bench, crossing one leg over the other and clasping his hands on his knees.  
Roxy sat down on the other end, he ears slightly flattened back against her head. There was enough space between them for at least one of any other variety of Cog to take a seat.  
The Sellbot smirked. "I see you don't trust me."  
She snorted. "Nor do I like you. Now are we going to get this over with or can I go home?"  
"My first question, then. What is the appeal of that?"  
"The sunset?" She paused to take in the sight. "It's so pretty."  
The Sellbot tilted his head to one side. "Pretty? I do not understand. What is pretty?"  
"Well look. See the colours, the reds, oranges, purples and pinks. See how vibrant they are."  
He looked. "It's just a mishmash of colours to me."  
Roxy rolled her eyes. "You've no soul."  
He smiled. "Perhaps. But to say I have no heart would be inaccurate."  
"Really?" Her tone was sceptical. "I thought you were supposed to be emotionless."  
"Hardly. Toons hate us, correct? And the feeling is mutual. If hate is an emotion that we are capable of feeling, would it not be logical, Toon, to assume that we can experience others?"  
"Would you stop calling me 'Toon', I have a name. It's Roxy McSocks."  
"My name as you say, is 118-7."  
"That's not a name, though, is it?"  
"Yes it is. There is no other Sellbot alive with the ident 118-7. Nor is there another group of Sellbots alive with the batch number 118 and there won't be until we have all either perished or been decommissioned."  
Roxy stared at him. "What?"  
118-7 smiled. "Let me explain. Cogs are constructed in batches of nine. We each have our own unique serial number and a four-digit ident, which is more of what you would call a name instead of, a. . . nickname? 118 is my batch number, and seven my order of construction."  
"Which makes you the third youngest?"  
"It did. Eight and Nine have perished, thus I am the youngest."  
"And this batch number-?"  
“Not unique, no. When all members of a batch have perished in one way or another, all of their memories and experiences to date are prepared for installation. That is, they have the consciousness stripped from them. They are then installed onto the hard drive of a new batch and the new Cogs inherit the batch number. Essentially, I am the son of the 118-7 that came before me. And the 118-7 that comes after me will be my son. Understand?”  
“Well, why not just reinstall the old personality into the new Cog?”  
“Because the old one made a mistake. This way they hopefully get to learn from it. Now do you understand?”  
She nodded “Yeah. Can I call you Seven?”  
"Certainly not! Only close friends and family may refer to me in such a manner."  
The Toon raised her hands in surrender. "Well excuse me, it was just a question." She yawned unexpectedly and looked at her watch. "Oh my is that the time? I've got classes tomorrow, I have to go home."  
"Will you tell me about these classes of yours? Tomorrow?"  
"Sure why not?" Roxy hopped off the bench and began to walk home. Then she stopped and walked back. "By the way, since this was more of a taster, would you like to meet up earlier tomorrow?"  
He smiled. "You found this as beneficial as I did?"  
"Yeah. . . Well, I mean, now I know how Cogs are named." She frowned. "But what did you learn?"  
118-7's eyes narrowed. "That Toons could never appreciate our preferred working conditions. What you call pretty, we call distracting."  
"But your world's so grey, so depressing. How could you work in that?"  
"By not caring for our surroundings and focusing on the task at hand."  
"We are just as capable as doing that as you are, just because we take a little time out to appreciate our surroundings doesn't make you better workers."  
The Sellbot humphed and stood up and stuck his hands in his pockets. "If you say so." A pause. "What time, then, Miss McSocks.?"  
"Classes finish at four. . . Um, but Toons are still out and about then."  
"My thoughts exactly, it will have to be later so we will not be disturbed."  
"And then there's the Night Watch to consider.  
118-7 flinched and looked around. "Speaking of which." The Night Watch had rounded the corner of the far end, but they had not seen him yet. His propellers shot out of his head and kicked into action.  
"Would seven tomorrow be good?"  
"Yes, I believe so."  
"Goodnight 118-7."  
He paused, looking surprised before replying "Goodnight, Miss McSocks." And then he was gone.  
Roxy looked after his retreating form until he was a speck before heading for home.  
  
118-7 approached the launch pad. Once again the Vice President was waiting for him, only this time there was no CEO.  
The giant Sellbot held out a hand for him to land on. "Well?"  
He smiled. "Success, sir. If I gain her trust, I believe she'll tell me everything."  
"Good job, 118-7. But wouldn't a more experienced Toon be a better target?"  
"The young Toons are naive, easier to win over."  
"Yes but she doesn't know anything."  
"Not yet, but she'll learn."  
"It could take a while."  
"The best plans are often the longest."  
The VP smiled then cackled. "All right, good point, 118-7. But," he narrowed his eyes. "You should be careful."  
118-7 smiled. "There's nothing to worry about, Vice President. Everything will go according to plan."


	4. Chapter 3: The Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Well, I decided to push forward a plot point that was to appear later on and boy did it take off.  
>  Yes, in other words I rewrote Chapter 3 since it was going nowhere and was more of the same of Chapter 2.**

Every Toon species had at least one prominent flaw. For Bears, this was pride. Teddison “Ted/Teddy” Carter was still stinging from his defeat. So he was planning to something about it. He was planning to do something everyone else would call completely irrational or insane.

Securing a copy of the blueprints for Sellbot HQ was easy, even for an unqualified Toon like himself. He poured over it obsessively, looking for something that would help him get his own back.

Now this looked interesting. There was a large area where the Sellbots supposedly retired for the night. . .

 

* * *

Roxy McSocks and 118-7 got on as well as a Toon and a Cog were expected to get on. Conversations almost without fail descended into arguments over which side was “in the wrong” often resulting Roxy storming home in outrage and 118-7 ranting to a sympathetic Vice President about “that infuriating Toon” when he got home.

But when they did get on, Roxy found him pleasant, even charming. And this was were it all started. . .

 

* * *

“Are you all right?”

The blue cat looked up from another angry drawing of 118-7. “Huh?”

“Are you all right?” Chicken McNugget repeated. “You’ve been a bit. . . moody of late.”

“Oh. . . it’s nothing.”

“You’ve been drawing him a lot as well. The Telemarketer with the scarf.”

Roxy froze. “I what?”

The purple-feathered duck gave her an indecipherable look and pulled out a wad of crumpled up paper from her bag. “You’ve been throwing them in the bin, when you think no-one’s looking.”

Well darn. That was a lot of paper.

Chicken sighed. “Look, I was just worried that you might have thoughts of going after him or something, you know, to get revenge.”

“Oh no” she smiled, relieved. “I was just. . .” Venting her frustration in art.

“Hey,” another voice interrupted. “Have either of you seen Teddy?”

A dark brown monkey in a snowflake shirt and rainbow skirt was leaning over their desk.

The pair frowned and looked around their bright, multicoloured classroom for him.

“No, sorry,” said Roxy as Chicken shook her head.

Lady Trixie sighed. “I’m afraid he might have done something stupid. I found this in his house.” She unrolled Teddy’s copy of the blueprints of Sellbot HQ.

“No,” Roxy breathed.

“He can’t have,” Chicken continued.

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Winky Dizzypop in a blue shirt with purple stripes and dark green denim skirt asked as she joined the trio. “Sellbot Headquarters huh?”

Roxy and Chicken ‘shushed’ her as Trixie clamped her hand over mouth. “Not so loud. I think Teddy might have gone there.”

Winky’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “He could get his licence revoked if he’s been captured and someone rescues him.”

Trixie nodded. “I know. That’s why I want to go after him before he gets found out.”

“ _We_ could get out licences revoked if we-“

“So we won’t get caught.”

“All right, I’m in,” said Roxy. She exchanged looks with Chicken who nodded.

“For Teddy.”

Winky sighed. “I’m in too, then.”

Trixie beamed. Thanks guys. We’ll meet by the pond in Toontown Central at nine. Most of the Sellbots should be asleep by then.”

“Yeah,” said Winky. “Let’s hope that Intel isn’t wrong.”

 

* * *

Roxy McSocks looked up at the sky as she left school for home. Grey clouds hung in the air. It looked like it was going to rain soon, which meant there would be no meeting with 118-7 tonight. That was one thing they had in common; they both hated the rain.

 

* * *

Toontown Central, normally a colourful and cheerful place bustling with Toons looked very different under the dark of night and in the pale light of the Moon. Two figures were waiting by the pool. The blue cat wrinkled up her nose in disgust tiptoed across the sodden grass. It had indeed rained in the evening, soaking the ground. Her purple-feathered companion on the other hand looked delighted, stamping her feet down in the wet grass to produce a  _ squelch _ and small spray of droplets.

“Looks like we’re a little late,” Chicken remarked as they approached.

Winky Dizzypop jumped up and down on the spot, looking too nervous to show her disgust at her cold, wet feet. “So we just go in, find Teddy, get out. No-one gets hurt, right?”

Lady Trixie nodded. “That’s the plan.”

“So what are we waiting for?”

“Alvin. There he is.”

A cyan dog in a tie dye shirt and and orange shorts with blue and yellow stripes down the sides, was hurrying towards them. “Sorry I’m late. Are we ready to go?”

“Ready when you are,” Trixie replied.

Winky nodded. “I don’t think I can get any readier.”

“I’m good to go,” said Roxy.

“Yeah, me too.”

“All right. Let’s do this.”

The motley quintet headed for Silly Street with loud, wet  _ squelches _ .

 

* * *

The Courtyard was empty. Mercedes Paw had told them that it was usually crawling with Sellbots.

“Looks like that Intel’s right,” Chicken McNugget remarked. “Cogs do sleep.”

“Come on,” said Trixie, as she started forward.

The group ran towards the lobby and quietly entered.

 

* * *

“Where are we going?” Winky asked as they ran down another corridor, which looked like every corridor that they had run down so far.

Lady Trixie consulted the blueprints. “I’m trying to find the jail block. But I think we’re lost.”

“Wonderful.”

“Here, let me have a look,” Alvin offered. He poured over it, then looked around their dull, grey surroundings until he found a small yellow sign with ‘N8’ in bold black letters. “All right, no worries. I know where we are. See N8 is here and where we want to go is here. Come on, we’ll be out of here in no time.”

The group ran to the end of the corridor and rounded it, straight into two Movers and Shakers.

Roxy was picked up by the scruff of her neck before she had fully registered their presence and held aloft.

“Isn’t this cute, Five. Another 15 Laffer in Sellbot HQ.”

They were unusual in the fact the they both had some kind of power pack strapped to their backs and were plugged into by wires leading into their wrists.

Her four companions were frozen to the spot in fear, but Trixie managed to find her voice. “You’ve got Teddy?”

“Who?” Asked Five.

“Teddy, our friend, we came to rescue him.”

The two Sellbots exchanged bemused looks then roared with laughter; hollow, mirthless laughs that raised the fur on the back of their necks.

“Did I hear her correctly, Four? She came here to rescue him?” He sneered and leaned forward. “You’re the ones who need rescuing.”

“Four? Five?” asked Roxy.

Four reacted instantly. “How dare you! Only-“

“Friends or family may refer to you in such a manner. I know. I was going to ask if you were brothers or friends.”

They exchanged bewildered looks. As did her friends.

“I’m 457-4 and this is 457-5.”

“Ah I see. I assumed as much.”

Five stepped closer. “Unless I’m mistaken, you must be Roxy McSocks.”

“How did you-?”

“Special exemplary orders from the Vice President; Toon Roxy McSocks is to be left alone until-“

“Until the exchange of information is finished,” Four cut in, shooting his younger brother a warning look.

“All right then. Put me down.”

457-4 smiled. “I don’t think so. You and your friends have no place in Sellbot HQ. You’re being thrown out.” With that, he picked up Winky, Five picked up Chicken and Trixie and they began to head back to the entrance.

“No! If you don’t put us down and step aside, I won’t give you anymore information.”

Four stopped. “If you put it like that, Toon,” he replied sourly and put Roxy and Winky down.

“Four are you-“

“You heard what she said.”

The Mover and Shaker sighed and released Chicken and Trixie.

“Now then, since you didn’t ask for our help, for which I’m grateful, we have duties to tend to.”

The quintet watched after their retreating backs as they stalked out of sight.

“What was that about?” asked Alvin.

“Yeah, exchange of information?” Winky added.

“A fair exchange of information,” Roxy quoted. “I explain Toons and 118-7 explains Cogs, but nothing that would compromise the other.”

“Who’s 118-7?” asked Trixie.

“He’s that Telemarketer, isn’t he? The one that attacked us?” Chicken realised.

The blue Toon’s ears drooped. “ . . . Yeah. . . You know I said he attacked me a few weeks ago? Well. . . it was the other way around. That sort of got his attention. So we’ve been meeting up in the evenings after school ever since.”

“Well that explains those foul moods you’ve been in.”

“You’re okay with this?”

“Sure,” Chicken replied. “I mean any information about the Cogs is helpful, and it’s not like your siding with them or anything. Or enjoying his company.”

“Come on, Rox,” said Winky. “Did you really think we were that shallow?”

Roxy scratched the back of her sheepishly. “Sorry, guys.”

“I’m with what they said,” Alvin cut in. “But we should get going. Teddy’s been stuck in here long enough.”

“Are we even sure he’s been captured?” Winky pointed out.

“Well why else would he stay here?” Trixie asked.

“Touché, but you know how prideful Bears are. I’m just saying; perhaps his pride won’t allow him to leave until he’s avenged himself. And us too, I guess.”

“Let’ just take things one step at a time,” the blue cat suggested. “If he’s not in a cell, we’ll figure out what to do next.”

The cyan dog nodded. “Sounds good to me. Let’s go.”

 

* * *

A surprise was in store for the unsuspecting Toons. When they finally got past the doors to the jail block, the first thing they noticed was a Telemarketer in a blue scarf. He too was wearing a power pack.

The Sellbot smiled, closed the book he was reading and got up from the stool he had been sitting on. “At risk of sounding clichéd; I’ve been expecting you.”

There was a collective “You!” in response. Then Lady Trixie noticed a forlorn Teddison Carter in the cell behind him.

“Teddy! You all right?”

The brown bear nodded. “Yeah, as well as can be expected. This bucket of bolts caught me trying to sneak up on him. So he got his brothers and . . sisters. . . to throw me in here. He hasn’t moved since.”

118-7 smiled again. “I apologise, Miss McSocks, for missing our meeting.”

“No need,” she replied. “It rained.”

There was a pause.

“Soooo,” said Winky. “What happens now?”

“I have a proposal,” 118-7 informed them. “I’ll release this Toon if you help me find and free Cold Caller 122-7. He’s been taken prisoner.”

The group exchanged looks and huddled together into a circle.

“Isn’t that. . ? I don’t know, some kind of treason?” asked Winky fearfully.

Roxy frowned and scratched her head. “Well they’re always changing the location every so often, they obviously expect the Cogs to be able to find it.”

“Yeah, but _we’ll_ be _helping_ a Cog to find it.”

“They won’t know it’s us, will they?” Trixie pointed out.

“It’s either that, or we all lose our licenses,” Alvin stated simply.

“You’ll be doing Toontown a favour,” 118-7 interrupted. “Very soon, the Toon Council will need all the fighters they can get.” He finished that statement with a sinister smile.

They swallowed, exchanged looks, nodded and broke formation.

“All right,” said Alvin. “We’ll do it. We’ll take you to our prison.”

The Telemarketer beamed. “Excellent decision.” He pulled a key out of his pocket and released Teddy from his prison. “To show my good faith, I’ll release him now. Let’s be off, shall we?”

 

* * *

118-7 examined the building. It certainly didn’t look like a prison for containing Cogs. They were on Punchline Place, looking over at a nondescript and unmarked building. No wonder Cogs had difficulty locating Cog Prisons; they looked so inconspicuous.

“Is there security?”

“Duh,” Teddy replied.

“How good?”

“It’s not the Cogs getting out that concerns them but the Cogs getting in. There are usually only a few Toons on duty, but they’re powerful; high Laff, maxed gags. And then there’s the Night Watch.”

The Sellbot nodded, not looking too concerned.

Alvin and Teddy exchanged bemused looks. “You don’t seriously think you can take them on?” asked the dog. “I mean we know you’re fast, but their gags have a large target area.”

He smiled. “I am well aware of that. However I have jolly little band of hostages that I’m planning to use.”

“ . . . Touché,” said Winky.

 

* * *

The guard Toon looked up sharply when a Telemarketer waltzed in through the doors, dragging a chain of five 15 Laffers behind him.

He beamed. “Hello there. I must ask you to leave, or I will be forced to do one or more of my hostages an injury.”

The red dog, in dark blue jacket and trousers, treated the Sellbot to a withering look.

“Before you go. Your key card if you please.”

The guard dog growled and reached into his breast pocket for his key card. He looked up in time to see a large rucksack about to make contact with his head, and then it did knocking him unconscious.

118-7 smirked as he snatched the card. “Why thank you, don’t mind if I do.”

He gestured to the Toons to follow him as he proceeded down a flight of stairs and further into the building. They went through a door and were immediately confronted by a vast, seemingly empty room. A collection of red and green lights glowed in the darkness. The light of a torch revealed the presence of one final guard Toon; a dark blue rabbit dressed in the same attire as the dog.

Teddy shouted a warning, hoping the rabbit would be able to finish the Telemarketer off; instead he succeeded in serving as a distraction. The brown bear sighed as the rabbit slumped to the floor unconscious.

“Turn the lights on, will you?” 118-7 called from the darkness.

A rattling of chains and then the lights came on.

“Can we get out of these chains, yet?” Roxy asked.

He pulled out a key from his pocket and chucked it over. “You’re also free to leave, if you wish.”

As Winky unlocked their chains, the Sellbot examined the prison. The holding cells were essentially pits built into the floor. A control panel linked up to the cell, displaying a green light for unlocked, or empty, further emphasised by the open ‘lid’ that stood vertically when not in use, and the raised floor of the cell, and a red light for an occupied one. Two buttons below the lights opened and closed the cell and across the top was a slot through which to pass a card. This he did. The word ‘accepted’ blinked on in the LCD screen below the lights and above the buttons. He pressed the left button and the cell opened revealing a relieved Pencil Pusher.

“My gears, I’d thought I’d be stuck in there for the rest of my life.”

118-7 smiled and patted the Bossbot reassuringly on the shoulder before handing him one of the five power packs had had brought along.

“I thought the deal was for Cold Caller. . . whatever?”

The Sellbot glanced over his shoulder at Chicken. “Indeed it was. If you’re not happy, I could always fight you for the rest of them.

She paled and the rest swallowed. “Uh, never mind.”

The Pencil Pusher smirked, and then suddenly remembered something serious. “They somehow managed to capture a Loan Shark.”

118-7 froze in the middle of handing the now freed Double Talker another of the power packs. “They. . . what?”

“A Loan Shark. I saw him being dragged in before they put me in one.”

The next cell revealed the Cold Caller he had been looking for. 122-7 sniffed, wiping oily tears away with his sleeve, before he hugged the Telemarketer in silent, unwordable thanks. 118-7 smiled for the first time in Roxy’s presence with genuine affection as returned the hug. “It’s all right, Seven,” he said, soothingly. “I’ve come to take you home.”

 


	5. Chapter 4: Harbinger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lammy (c) Palkia/Lammy

Teddison Carter’s mouth fell open at this open display of affection. The preconceived assumption that Cogs were cold and emotionless was in tatters. He glanced at his companions to gauge their reactions and was not surprised to see similar looks of shock. Even Roxy McSocks looked taken aback.

118-7 looked amused. “What’s the matter Toons, never seen affection before?”

“Not from a Cog,” Alvin replied.

“Why are they here, Seven?” 122-7 asked quietly.

“Yes,” said the Double Talker stepping forward. “Why _are_ they here?”

“They came here as part of a deal. The bear for my friend here.”

The Bossbot cleared his throat. “I believe it is time we released that Loan Shark.”

“So we should.” The Telemarketer swiped the key card through the card reader and pressed the lock release. The lid swung open and the floor ascended revealing a half conscious Loan Shark slumped against one side of his prison.

The Pencil Pusher sighed and shook his head. “You wasted your energy trying to get out, didn’t you?”

The Loan Shark opened his eyes with a great deal of effort. “Mmmmm srrrry,” he slurred. “Thought I . . . thought I was. . . wasn’t gonbe rescued. Thought I. . . should try to . . . to sssscape.”

118-7 looked perplexed. “Well this isn’t good. The power packs I brought are only good for the first three types.”

“And we have two left,” the Double Talker observed, after rifling through Seven’s rucksack.

The Loan Shark hauled his eyes open again to see Teddy goggling at him. “Shoo, Toon. Dun. . . dun bother me.”

122-7 turned around to find the rest of them had gathered around, awed at the sight of a seventh variant Cog.

“Why don’t you just leave him?” Lady Trixie asked.

“Certainly not!” the three Cogs replied.

The Pencil Pusher lifted one of the Cashbot’s hands and pushed back his sleeve to better examine his wrist socket. “The power packs you brought definitely won’t fit.”

“He’s too heavy to fly home,” 118-7 added.

“We could carry him,” the Lawbot suggested.

“Not with just three Cogs.”

The three, as one, turned to their Toon companions.

Winky shook her head. “No way, we’ve helped you find Cold Caller whathisname, deal’s over.”

“122-7,” the Cold Caller informed her curtly.

They exchanged looks. “Gentlemen, it seems we have no choice,” said the Telemarketer as he pulled out his Rolodex.

“It would appear so,” the Pencil Pusher concurred, brandishing his fountain pen in a threatening manner.

“Toons, I hope you brought a good supply of Gags,” the Double Talker finished pounding a fist into his palm with a metallic _clink_.

Teddy backed up to the relative safety of the group. “N-now hold on a second. Give us a minute to think this over.”

“A minute, no less,” the Bossbot responded and pulled out his pocket watch.

“Darn, we’re really in a pinch here,” Alvin observed.

“We really don’t have much of a choice in the matter do we?” Chicken sighed.

“Yeah, get caught helping them and we’re done for or face another few days in the hospital.”

“I really don’t want to go through that again,” Trixie said shakily.

“30 seconds.”

Teddy patted her on the shoulder. “Nor me.”

“So it’s a yes,” Roxy concluded.

Alvin sighed. “Yet again.”

They turned around. “All right,” Winky announced, “we’ll do it. But this is the last time, understand?”

118-7 nodded. “Fair enough.”

“So what do you want us to do?”

 

* * *

Telemarketer 118-7 strode down the street before them, on the lookout for the Night Watch. Even just walking he easily pulled ahead.

“118-7,” Double Talker 327-4 hissed, annoyed. “Ease up on the speed.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Oh. Right. Sorry.”

The ensuing silence as they closed the gap between them was swiftly broken by the sound of metal being dragged along stone. 327-4, at the head of the entourage, supporting the Loan Shark’s head and shoulders halted in his tracks forcing everyone else to come to a stop as well. “What was that?”

The Cashbot stirred. “My foot. . .”

He scowled at Pencil Pusher 244-1 and Chicken McNugget.

“It’s heavy,” they objected.

Four sighed and checked the status of the rest of the team. Lady Trixie and Alvin Dynocrunch were supporting his arms, as well as checking on Teddy and Winky, who were supporting the Loan Shark’s body from underneath. Roxy McSocks and 122-7 were in charge of his other leg; they too seemed to be struggling with its weight. “Can we get moving?” she whined. “He’s real heavy and it’s late and-“

“Enough. You. Bear. Your status?”

“I’m cool. Heck I could do this myself.”

“And the other one.”

“Same,” she smiled.

“Is there a problem?”

The group nearly jumped at the sound of 118-7’s voice.

“Not anymore,” 327-4 informed him.

“Then we should continue.” He pulled ahead once again, ignoring the Lawbot's protests. The Telemarketer stopped and spun around suddenly. “The Night Watch!”

“Oh blimey,” 244-1 muttered looking alarmed.

“This way, gentlemen, ladies.” said 327-4. He lead them to the door of a nearby building then realised that none of them were free to open it. “Ah. . .”

“Where's Seven?” 122-7 piped up.

The sound of a piano hitting the ground from a great height clued them in.

“Can't we take a break?” Trixie asked.

The Lawbot pondered. “All right, put him down.”

They all sighed in relief and massaged aching limbs. 327-4, 244-1 and 122-7 sat down on the pavement. Teddison glanced around meaningfully at his companions indicating that they should move away slightly. They huddled together.

“If we go through with this, 118-7'll have this over our heads.”

Winky looked slightly alarmed. “You'd think he'd use that against us?”

“He's a Cog, of course he would.”

“So what do you suggest we do?” Alvin asked, although his smirk suggested he already knew the answer.

Teddy smirked back. “Now would be a good time to leg it.”

Chicken looked at the Cogs, who were staring into space. “Oh boy, do you really think we should. It'll make them mad.”

“Oh boo hoo,” Teddy replied sarcastically.

Trixie sighed and shook her head. “I think she means 118-7'll get mad and guess who's going to suffer for it.”

The brown bear frowned. “Who?”

“Right you weren't there for that conversation were you?” Winky realised. “Roxy and 118-7 have a sort of agreement going on. She explains Toons and he explains Cogs but nothing that compromise the other.”

“Oh. . . Well.” He scratched his chin. “What do you think Rox?”

Roxy blinked. “Huh?”

Alvin frowned. “What's up? Weren't you listening?”

“I was. I'm not sure though. Can't say I know 118-7 well enough to be able to say if he's above blackmail or not.”

Teddy pulled out a small silver coin from his shorts pockets.

“Is that a-?” Chicken began.

“A Cogcent? Yup. My dad gave it to me. We flip this coin to decide what to do. Heads we run, tails we stay.”

“What are you Toons muttering about?”

The group nearly went into synchronised cardiac arrest. Teddy, Alvin and Chicken looked up into the annoyed faces of 327-4.

 

* * *

After finishing off the last of the Night Watch, 118-7 headed back to the group, straightening his suit as he did. It took him a few seconds to process the complete lack of Toons, 327-4 and 244-1. He blinked. “Where'd they go?”

Cold Caller 122-7 looked distraught. “They left me.”

“What happened?”

“The Toons ran. 327-4 and 244-1 ran after them.”

“They did what?” His look of shock swiftly morphed to rage. “Which way?”

122-7 was reluctant to answer. “They split up.”

He let out a frustrated sigh. “Wait here.”

 

* * *

Roxy McSocks slowed to a halt and looked around. She was alone. 244-1 had gone after Winky, 327-4 after Teddy. Although far from safe, she had come to a halt in a back alley. The group had split on an impulse. Roxy was regretting it. 118-7 would be angry to say the least and she was afraid to face his inevitable wrath.

There was that, but she was also in some confusion over her reaction to the Sellbot's open display of affection. Was she. . . jealous?

“Report.”

She jumped. That was 118-7. The three Cogs were right outside the entrance to the alley but they had not seen her.

“They got away,” 327-4 replied.

“We should have anticipated this,” 244-1 sighed.

“Well there's nothing we can do about now. Looks like we're doing this the hard way.”

The three Cogs moved away, heading back to where they had left the Loan Shark. Roxy yawned, turned around and headed for home and away from 118-7.

 

* * *

Mercedes Paw glanced around the classroom at the excited happy faces of her students. Today was the day they were going to get their first Toontask.

Lammy, a peach cat in a green shirt with a four leaf clover on it and blue skirt with a gold button elbowed Chicken McNugget, who had nodded off on her shoulder. She awoke with a snort and rubbed her eyes.

“Now then,” Mercedes announced, “I have twelve Toontasks up for grabs. You are only allowed, at the moment to chose one, but several of you can do the same task. In fact I encourage you too. It's a lot more fun doing a Toontask with a friend,” she smiled. “You have the rest of the day off to complete it to be reported in tomorrow.”

The class were practically bouncing in their seats, itching to get started.

“I want you to form an orderly queue, starting with the front row.” Her voice was nearly drowned out by the scraping of chairs as the overexcited students flocked to her desk.

“Take your time,” she soothed. “There's no rush.”

 

* * *

_Roxy McSocks hugged her knees to her chest and glanced around at her surroundings. She was in a cold, dark cage, alone. By the looks of it, she was in a prison, similar to the one Teddy had been kept in. Her ears drooped and tears spilled from her eyes. Where was she? How did get here? Where were her friends? Was anyone coming to rescue her?_

_Out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadow detach itself from the wall._

_She was most surprised when the shadow revealed himself to be 118-7. He smiled comfortingly then checked to see no one was coming before unlocking the cage. Roxy practically threw herself at him and sobbed into his suit. She expected him to be cold, but he was strangely warm._

“ _It's all right, Roxy” he soothed, wrapping his arms around her. “I've come to take you home.”_

Roxy sat bolt upright, startling awake her lavender feathered friend who had been using her back as pillow.

“Quack,” Chicken stated eloquently before stretching.

“Late night?” Lammy asked.

“Something like that,” Lady Trixie muttered sleepily from behind her.

Teddy hauled his eyes open and looked at the excited activity going on at the front of the classroom. “What's going on?”

“We're getting our first Toontask,” the peach cat responded.

“Oh. Nice,” he yawned.

“I just want to go to sleep,” Winky moaned from Roxy's right.

“What were you all doing last night?” Lammy wondered. “A sleepover?”

“Yeah. That's it. A sleepover,” Alvin Dynocrunch agreed. “Nothing wrong with that is there?”

“Well on a school night is is.”

“I can't feel my arms,” Chicken whimpered.

“Come on, get up.” She pulled the lavender duck up be her arms. “It's our turn to get a Toontask. You should be excited.”

“I am. Inside.”

Mercedes Paw raised an eyebrow at Chicken and Winky, who appeared to be struggling to stay awake. “What. . . ?” she began. “I won't ask.”

Roxy on the other hand seemed to be fretting over something. She gave the list a cursory glance and chose the one Chicken had without looking at it properly.

“Is there something the matter?”

A brief hand-in-the-cookie-jar expression flashed across her face. “It's nothing miss,” she muttered. “Nothing at all.” And quickly left after her friend.

 

* * *

The group gathered outside the schoolhouse and exchanged yawns.

“I don't know about you lot, but I'm about ready to fall asleep where I'm standing,” said Winky.

“Ugh, we should all get some sleep before we tackle our Toontasks,” Alvin observed. “The last we thing we need is to nod off in front of some Cog."

A chorus of “Agreed.”s followed that statement. They bid each other farewell and good morning and dragged themselves off to their estates.

Roxy trailed along behind Chicken McNugget. The duck stopped in her tracks and gave the cat a sleepy-eyed look. “What's up?”

“Um. I think I'll do my Toontask before I go to sleep,” she said.

Chicken yawned. “Awright. If you think you're up to it. I'm shattered though. See you later then.”

“Yeah. Bye.” She flipped open her Shticker Book to the Toontask page. Just her luck; Defeat two Telemarketers.

 

* * *

Roxy McSocks shivered as she drew closer to the meeting place. Ahead she could see a small maroon figure with a blue scarf. She was close enough to tell that he was pacing up and down before the bench with his head down. This was unusual behaviour, since he was always already sitting by the time she arrived. The blue cat checked her watch. She was not late. In fact she was early. Her heart rate increased as she approached and she swallowed bile.

“Seven?” She asked, quietly and then clapped a hand to her mouth when she realised that she had referred to him in a familiar manner.

118-7 froze, mid-stride with his back to her and raised his head. He turned around slowly and glared at her until she dropped her gaze. “Well,” he said acidly. “At least you had the courage and fortitude to show up.”

She swallowed. “Did you-”

He seized her ear, pinching it hard, eliciting a pitiful mew. “Yes! No thanks to you.”

“Then why are you-?” she whimpered.

“Cogs may be strong, but we're not built to carry heavy weights for extended periods of time. They suffered extensive internal damage and were in considerable, _needless_ pain the last time I checked.”

There was a pause as Roxy thought of a reply. “But they're still alive, right?”

He let go of her ear in disgust and turned his back on her. “Go home, Toon. I'm in no mood to talk to you.” His propellors shot out of his head and 118-7 prepared to take off.

“No wait!” she yelped, grasping his elbow.

“What?”

“Um. . . T-tomorrow then?”

The Sellbot sniffed. “We'll see.” Then he yanked his arm free and took off.

Roxy sighed and her ears drooped. She knew she would not be feeling this guilty, if at all, if this was much earlier on in their relationship. The blue cat's ears perked up suddenly?

“Hello?” she asked turning around. Her heart skipped a beat and she opened her mouth in horror, eyes wide as saucers at the sight that greeted her eyes. The last thing she saw before she fainted out from shock was a green hand reaching out to grab her.

 


	6. Chapter 5: A Captive Audience

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **This got a bit dark towards the end.**

Black, metal feet strode along the grey metal corridors of Sellbot HQ. Instead of creating a deafening cacophony of metal striking metal, the Cog's feet were padded with a thick layer of leather to allow him some degree of silence when he walked. No use advertising their location everywhere they went, after all.

If anyone had the attention span to watch them long enough, a slight drag in this particular pair of feet would soon become noticeable.

118-7 ran his fingers through his grey streaked, black hair, looking slightly perplexed, as he took in the dull grey of his surroundings. Was he imagining this or was home starting to become a bit depressing? I mean a little colour here and there, besides the burgundy of their suits, would not hurt. You know, to just to break up the yards and yards of grey. What about some banners? Some maroon here and there, after all this was Sellbot Headquarters. Dark red was their signature colour.

He halted in his tracks looking horrified.  _ What was he thinking!? _

Ugh, he was spending so much time around that Toon, he was starting to  _ think _ like her. Should this be a concern he should voice aloud to the Senior Vice President, or just keep to himself? The Sellbot pulled out his pocket watch to assess the time. It was shortly after seven, since he had cut their meeting so short, so the VP would still be in his office. Then again, it was not as if he was thinking of redecorating with bright and cheerful colours. Maybe he would just discuss it with Six. He always knew what to do. . .

 

* * *

Lavender feathered Chicken McNugget flicked a jellybean to her Doodle, Briar as she approached Roxy McSocks' house. She felt refreshed, having recovered from the night before and excited. Yesterday was the introduction to Toontasks. Today, they would complete a series of tasks to earn the right to choose their first gag track. She had already decided on Sound, even though this would split her from Roxy, who had settled on Toon-Up.

_ Knock, knock _ . A long pause. No answer. Chicken knocked again. Another pause. Still no answer. The lavender duck frowned. Was Roxy ill? She felt a nudge at her knee and looked down. It was Piccolo, Roxy's Doodle.

“What's the matter, girl? Roxy sick?”

Piccolo just whimpered in response. Chicken scratched her chin. “Don't worry, Pic, she'll get better. I'll check up on her when I get back, all right?”

Piccolo did not seem comforted.

 

* * *

Mercedes Paw frowned in concern over the register at the excited eager faces of her students. Some had not responded to their names being called, and she could see their empty seats. There had been a rash of disappearances from all over Toontown recently, despite the Night Watch’s best efforts. Mercedes sincerely hoped her students were just ill and that they hadn’t been kidnapped. But there was not anything she could do about it beyond wait and see and if necessary, call it in.

“Now then, class, you're probably already aware that today you are going to get a series of tasks before you can choose your first gag track. What you don't know is how important these tasks are. Failure to complete these tasks, within the allotted time or completing them in a less than satisfactory manner will result in the revoking of your Cog fighting license.

The class gulped as one, wide-eyed and some open-mouthed.

“These tasks have been set to evaluate each of you, not only as fighter, but as a Toon, so I want you to be the best you can be, understand?”

Her students shook off their fright and answered with a confidant; “Yes miss!”

She beamed. “That's the spirit. Upon completion of your tasks, aside from the choice between Toon-Up and Sound, you will also be given your first license upgrade, allowing you to the right to combat Cogs up to and including level 3. Now then. I will call out your names one by one to receive your tasks.”

 

* * *

“ _Do you think she's all right? She's been unconscious the whole night.”_

“ _Well she has a pulse, always good news, and her breathing appears to be normal. She probably had a stressful day before she was taken. I wouldn't worry about it.”_

Roxy stirred and opened her eyes a crack. “Huh?”

“Oh good, you're awake.”

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Whu-?”

“I'm afraid you've been captured, my dear. By the Cogs. The Bossbots to be precise. Big Cheeses to be even more precise. Or at least I was.”

“Who are you?”

“Goodness me, where are my manners? I'm Doctor Foster.” The dark green rabbit, in a red shirt under a lab coat and dark blue jeans stretched out a hand for her to shake. “And I'm told you already know this young lady,” he gestured to a hotpink and black mouse in a tie-dye outfit.

“LD?”

“Yeah,” the mouse sighed. “They got me and bunch of others. Jenna and Melody are here with us, but they took Daisey, Firebolt and Twilight to other cages.”

Jenna, a tan cat in light green t-shirt and shorts and Princess Melody Twinkletoon, a light blue rabbit in a flower shirt and purple denim skirt appeared at their shoulders, Jenna offered an almost apologetic “Hello.”, Melody a quiet "Howdy." in her Texan accent.

Roxy sniffed. “But why? I'm not even qualified to fight Cogs, yet.”

“Well I would have said they're Cogs, that's what they do, but this time. . .” Doctor Foster trailed off.

“What?” she asked, slightly alarmed.

He and her three classmates exchanged looks.

“Can't say we know exactly,” Melody explained. “Every so often, they come and take one of us through that curtain along with a Flunky. Then that's the last we see of 'em.”

“Curtain?”

“Yeah, if you angle your neck, you can just about see there's a big, red curtain at the end there,” Jenna replied, pointing.

Roxy stared out the cage, at the other cages lined opposite theirs and then did as Jenna suggested, angled her neck to see the giant, thick red curtain that was obviously covering a doorway at the end of the corridor. Strange how this place seemed like it had been thrown together.

“I've been here for a week at least,” Foster began. “They don't seem to be taking Toons just to experiment on, though no doubt that's what the fiends are doing, more like, they’re taking Toons to be used _as stock_ to choose from. I would wager that this is where all the missing Toons have been taken. No-one knows if or when they're next,” he sighed. “One Toon that went before was only in here for a day.”

“Do you think we'll be rescued?” LemonDoodle asked.

“My dear, this is Bossbot Headquarters. No-one knows where it is.”

The four girls broke down in tears and huddled together for comfort.

Doctor Foster sighed, it was the harsh truth, but better than seeing them crushed from getting their hopes up.

 

* * *

_ Bring, bring _ ! Lady Trixie hurried to pick up the phone. Herself, King Alvin Dynocrunch, Winky Dizzypop and Teddison Carter had gone to her house for lunch. Chicken had gone to check up on Roxy.

“Hello?”

“Trix! She's gone!”

“What? What do you mean gone? Gone where?”

“Gone! Missing! Vanished! Her bed hasn't been slept in but all her stuff is here.”

“Oh my.”

Teddy looked up from his strawberry jelly. “What's up?”

“Roxy's gone missing!”

 

* * *

The quintet had swiftly deduced that only the Cogs could be behind Roxy's sudden disappearance and immediately set off for Sellbot HQ to enlist the aid of 118-7.

They entered the Courtyard and literally pounced on the nearest Sellbot. The Name Dropper hit the ground, hard. “Oof! Well this is different,” she remarked.

“You!” Teddy barked. “Take us to 118-7.”

“I don't know 118-7,” she replied huffily.

“Oh. . . Er. Now what?”

“Him!” Alvin pointed at a random Cold Caller that had got too close. They pounced and pinned down several more Sellbots, until they lucked upon;

“I'm 118-4. What do you want with him?”

“Our friend, Roxy McSocks has gone missing,” said Chicken.

“Oh,” the Name Dropper replied, looking somewhat concerned. “Well got off me and I'll take you to him.”

“And don't try anything funny, or your Rolodex gets it,” Winky added.

They followed her to the Sales Room, where hundreds of Sellbots of all varieties were chatting away on the phones. The Toons were largely ignored, but those who did spot them trailed off in mid-sentence, wearing looks of shock.

118-7-7 was rifling through his Rolodex and did not see them approach.

“Seven?”

He looked up.

“Roxy McSocks has gone missing.”

“She's what?”

“You don't think a Sellbot might have captured her by mistake?” Trixie asked.

118-7 scratched his chin. “It's possible.” He closed his Rolodex, put it in his pocket as he stood up. “Come. We must inform the Vice President.”

 

* * *

The Senior Vice President waved the eight newly promoted Sellbots off as they headed into Toontown. “Go. And make that sale.”

He turned back to the next set of Sellbots that had lined on either side of him. “Welcome new- What-the? You're Toons!”

Only they were Teddy and co, and 118-7.

“Seven. Explain. What's the meaning of this?”

“Roxy McSocks has gone missing,” the Sellbot explained.

“What!? Hmm. . . All right,” he nodded. “Yes, leave this to me.”

“What about us?” Alvin objected.

“Yeah, what should we do?” Chicken added.

“Go home. This is in my hands now.”

“But. . . “ Teddy began.

“You heard him,” said 118-7. “Shoo.” He ushered the Toons back to the lift.

“Promotions are now over,” the Vice President announced when the lift doors had opened then trundled to his office, leaving a mass of confused and disappointed Cogs and disguised Toons.

“But we wanted to help,” Teddy complained.

“No need. Not that you'd be of any assistance anyway. Now haven't you got something to do?”

“Come on,” said Winky. “Let's get on with our Toontasks.”

 

* * *

“Girls!” Princess Melody hissed. Roxy, LD, Jenna and Doctor Foster joined her at the bars to their cage and peered out.

“There goes another one.”

A Big Cheese was hauling a struggling light blue rabbit out of one of the opposite cages, nearest to the curtain.

“Is it always a Flunky that goes through with them?” Jenna asked.

“Usually. There's also been the odd Pencil Pusher, though.”

LD scratched a chin. “So it's always been the weakest Bossbot variants that have accompanied them?”

“Yes, I've never seen any higher. And now that I think about it, none of the captured Toons have been Bears.”

“That's important, we should remember that for when we get out,” said Melody.

“ _If_ we get out.”

The light purple rabbit scowled at him. “Have some faith, Doc.”

Foster sighed. “I'll try. But I've seen that attitude before, and I'm still here.” He glanced up the corridor. “Now this is unusual, there should already be a Flunky here.”

Mere moments after he had said that a Big Cheese passed their cage, dragging a struggling, pleading Flunky by the back of his suit.

“No!” he bawled, oily, black tears leaking out from behind his glasses. “Please no! I don't want to! I don't want to! Lemme go!”

The quintet exchanged looks, shocked and disturbed.

“Hey! You! Wait!”

The Big Cheese stopped and looked back. A Pencil Pusher was running towards him. He did not look happy.

“What's the meaning of this?” The much smaller Cog demanded.

“Boss' orders,” he replied simply.

“What's your designation?”

It was somewhat amusing to watch the Big Cheese responding to the Pencil Pusher's demands, instead of the other way around. “212-2.”

“Right. So you're second eldest. How would react to your youngest being dragged off somewhere against his will, hmm? Tell me that.”

“. . . I wouldn't like it.”

“No. Of course you wouldn't. So how do you think _I_ feel about _my_ youngest being dragged off somewhere against his will?”

“You don't like it.”

“Too right I don't!” He snapped, folding his arms.

The Big Cheese sighed. “All right,” he said and let the whimpering Flunky go, who promptly latched onto his eldest brother and wailed into his shoulder. “But only if you take his place.”

The Flunky instantly shut up and deathly silence seemed to fall on the place.

His brother frowned. “So be it.”

“No!” The Flunky yelped and seized his elbow.

“You'd rather go instead?” 212-2 asked pointedly.

He sniffed and answered quietly. “No.”

“Quite,” the Big Cheese grasped One's elbow and started to pull him along. The Pencil Pusher wrenched his arm free. “I can walk there myself,” he spat.

“I was just making sure you didn't try to run off.”

He frowned. “Why would I run off?”

The red curtain was pulled aside to reveal another Big Cheese. “Hey, 212-2!” he snapped. “We're running late! Move it!”

Chastised, 212-2 muttered. “We'd better pick up the pace.”

The Pencil Pusher had to run to keep up.

“What was that about?” Doctor Foster wondered aloud.

“Hey,” Melody nudged him. “Let's ask that Flunky.”

“You think he'll talk?” Jenna asked.

“Maybe if we show him a bit of sympathy,” LD suggested.

A barrage of “Psst!”s, “Hey you!”s and “You, Flunky!”s ensued before they drew his attention and he trudged over.

“Listen, um. . . I sorry about your. . . brother,” LD offered awkwardly, reaching out a hand to pat his shoulder.

He scowled and batted it away. “I'll take no pity from a Toon,” and turned to walk away.

“What's your name?” Roxy asked.

The Flunky stopped and sniffed. “244-9.”

She gasped. “Then that was 244-1.”

“You know him?” the Cog and her companions asked in unison.

“Er. . . We've met.”

244-9 seemed to realise something. “Oh. That was you.” He glanced at the other Toons and decided that anything else might compromise her, so left it at that.

“So what's going on here, exactly?” Roxy asked.

The Flunky bit his lip and glanced back at the red curtain. “Um. . . an experiment.”

“Yes, we got that bit,” Foster replied, annoyed. “What sort of experiment?”

He shook his head. “I can't tell you anything else.”

“Because you'll get in trouble?” LD asked.

“No, because I don't know anything else.”

Jenna frowned. “Then why are you so worked about it?”

“Because I've heard things.” He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “They say those who go in there, Toon or Cog, don't come out. . . Alive. Or in one piece.”

Roxy swallowed and felt fear grip her heart. Jenna and Melody Twinkletoon moved closer together. LD shivered.

“Not in one piece?” Foster asked.

The Flunky nodded. “That's what I've heard.”

“And your brother? He hasn't?”

244-9's lip trembled. “He dismissed them.”

“Nine.” Everyone jumped in surprise. It was 244-1. “Let's go,” he said in a soft voice.

“One? Are you hurt?”

One stared back at him with a strange expression, but said nothing.

“Is that oil?” Foster asked, raising an eyebrow at the black stain appearing on the front of One's suit, which the Bossbot was trying to hide.

“What happened?” Nine asked, hoping to elicit a response.

“Show us,” Foster demanded.

Still One refused to make any sort of reply, except to stare at the ground.

“ _Make_ him show us.”

Nine swallowed and nodded, grabbed One's arms and pulled them apart, although 244-1 made no attempt to resist. Wide eyes and open mouths quickly followed.

The front of 244-1's suit and shirt had been shredded, although it was clear that had been by three, long and very sharp claws, for they had also sheered through his metal “skin”, rupturing his oil tank. They could see his gears spinning.

“Good. . . _heavens_. . .” Foster breathed, as the four girls, backed up slowly against the far side of their cage. “What. . . what _did_ that?”

Flunky 244-9, looked up, horrified, at Big Cheese 212-2 who had noticed the pair standing outside one of the cages and had come to investigate.

212-2 replied to 244-9's unspoken question enigmatically, with an unreadable expression. “He was lucky.” Then ushered them away.

“What's going to happen to us?” Roxy whimpered.

Doctor Foster shook his head, sadly. “I don't know.”

 


	7. Chapter 6: The Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Loose ends will be tied up in the following Chapter: Aftershocks. ^^**

_The Chief Executive Officer, a Big Cheese in a dark brown suit looked around at his colleagues. At the table with him were the Senior Vice President, a Mr Hollywood in a light purple tartan suit and pale pink shirt, the Chief Financial Officer, a Robber Baron and the Chief Justice, a Bigwig with a faded-red bow tie._

_"All right, we're here. What's your grand scheme this time, Cheesy," the VP asked, grinning as he used the CEO's hated nickname._

_The CEO's left eye twitched. "I was hoping to be able to discuss the designs for our replacement suits,_ Mr Holly. _"_

 _"Mr Holly_ wood. _"_

_"About that," the CFO began in an almost apologetic voice._

_"What?" the CEO asked, looking slightly perplexed. They had already been over this at great length and had come to a unanimous agreement; that each of the four types of Cog needed a more instantly recognisable leader._

_The Chief Justice cleared his throat. "We three think it best if these "new suits" replace us altogether."_

_Now he just looked lost._

_"We want ours to be given it's own personality," Mr Hollywood explained. "Which we will then train to take over from us, before retiring, hopefully permanently."_

_Big Cheese looked horrified. "You-you all want this?"_

_His colleagues exchanged looks and nodded._

_"But what if this frees us-"_

_"What if it doesn't?" Bigwig interrupted. "I'd rather not have my hopes crushed, thank you. Besides I'm rather looking forward to retiring from the world. If the corruption doesn't drive us mad, who's to say living forever won't do it instead?"_

_"But. . ."_

_"Are we to assume, then you won't be joining us?" Robber Baron stated more than asked._

“ _Well, I. . .”_

“ _If you need more time to think it over, we could adjourn the meeting,” Bigwig suggested._

“ _I. . . Yes.” He nodded. “Meeting adjourned.” His three companions, pushed back their chairs, picking up the preliminary designs of their Cog type's future leader and left._

_Big Cheese stared down at his doodles, and pondered the new option his colleagues had presented._

 

* * *

 

“ _You sent for me? What's the problem?” Big Cheese scowled at the Bossbot Factory Foreman, who was examining a series of text over several screens, rubbing his 'chin' and tugging nervously on his tie as he did so._

“ _I've run these tests,” he began, gesturing with a skeletal hand at one of the screens, “_ several _times, and I've got the same results each time.”_

_The CEO did not like where this was going. “And?”_

_The Foreman sighed. “You can't escape the corruption, sir. It seems to copy itself over, into your new hard-drive. If we knew what it was, and how it worked, we would know why, but. . . we don't. . .”_

_Big Cheese looked like he'd the Toontanic dropped on him. “. . . What?” he asked in a weak voice._

“ _We're going to have to go to plan B.”_

“ _Yes,” he nodded, dazed. “Very good.” Then stumbled back to his office, locked the doors behind him, crawled under his desk, curled up into a ball and wept._

 

* * *

 

Doctor Foster paced up and down the confines of their cell. The four girls watched him, looking utterly defeated. “We have to escape,” he said. “But how?”

“I don't wanna die,” Princess Melody Twinkletoon whimpered.

Jenna sniffed and patted her knee. “Neither do I.”

“We won't die if we escape,” Foster replied.

“But how do we get out?” LD asked.

The dark green rabbit stopped pacing and rattled the cages. “There must be someway.” He examined the lock. “Maybe if we jam the lock with something,” he shook his head. “But then one of us would have to get taken first. . .” He examined the hinges, then grasped the bars and attempted to lift them. Foster sighed. “Evidently they weren't lazy enough to settle for half-pin barrel hinges. Bad luck for us, unfortunately. Hello, what's this?”

“What?” asked Roxy.

“Some Big Cheeses have emerged from the red curtain.”

LD looked alarmed. “They're coming for more?”

Foster shook his head. “One of the Cheeses is dressed in a darker brown suit.” He scratched his chin. “If I remember correctly, that shade of brown was the original colour scheme of the Bossbots.”

Melody frowned. “So that Cog is. . . really old?”

Foster nodded. “Exactly, he should have gone out of operation a long time ago.”

“So what does that mean?”

“He must be special. Watch out, he's coming this way.”

The five Toons backed up to the end of their cage and tried to look disinterested.

“. . . Competent enough to continue the experiments in my absence?” The darker suited Big Cheese asked as they passed by their cage.

“Yes, Master,” the other replied.

“Excellent. Most of my time will be taken up training my son, but the moment you get a breakthrough, notify me at once.”

“Understood, Master.”

The two Big Cheeses parted company with the normal suited one returning to the room behind the curtain.

The quintet exchanged bewildered looks.

“Master?” asked Jenna.

“Son?” asked Doctor Foster.

Any further musings was cut short by the sound of a Toon being dragged screaming from his cage.

The five Toons exchanged looks of alarm an peered through the bars at the scene.

A small blue mouse kicked and struggled, clinging desperately to the door frame. “I don't, I don't want to go. . .”

“Let him go!” a red mouse in a light green shirt edged in a darker tone, and skirt demanded boldly, placing her hands on her hips.

“What're you doing?” asked one of her cage mates.

“Making a stand.”

“Strawberry's right,” said another red mouse, in a yellow blouse and purple skirt as she stood by her friend.

“It's now or never,” said a maroon pig in a red shirt and black belted, blue shorts.

A black cat in dark blue top and skirt pointed at the Big Cheese, who was staring at them with astonishment. “GET 'IM!”

The cage swiftly emptied as the Toons threw themselves at the Bossbot. He let go of the blue mouse in shock, overbalanced and fell to the ground.

Cries of “Gag 'im!” and “Get his key!” went up.

Firebolt methodically began to open the cages, starting from the one nearest the red curtain, then to one opposite, and then the next one up.

The Big Cheese writhed on the floor, choking on, spitting out and trying to call for reinforcements around several cupcakes Twilight had shoved in his mouth.

Some of the freed Toons swiftly organised themselves, taking up position in front of the other cages, so instead of Firebolt running from cage to cage, the key was thrown from Toon to Toon.

The red curtain was pulled aside revealing another Big Cheese. “What's all the noi-” he began angrily. “Oh no!” He turned his head and bellowed into the room, “The Toons are escaping!” then marched forward with the intent of freeing his trapped colleague, but they scattered before he could reach them.

Jenna, LD and Melody cheered and high-fived as their cage was unlocked.

Doctor Foster smiled. “Looks like you were right, Melody.”

The four hurried out of the cage, joining the steady stream that was beating feet to the exit.

Roxy McSocks stepped out, looking slightly worried; now that freedom had been handed to her, she was disappointed that it was not courtesy of 118-7. And that coupled with her dream could only mean one thing. . .

“ _Attention fellow Bossbots. A large amount of Toons has escaped from the Experiment Holding Area. Repeat. A large amount of Toons has escaped from the Experiment Holding Area. Recapture them immediately! They must not leave the premises!_ ”

Roxy sighed and joined the tail end of the river.

The group, having no real idea where they were headed, or where they should be heading, meandered all over the place. They came out in a long room filled with machinery, clearly the Bossbot Factory and boldly continued on, deciding that this was more or the less the right way.

Suddenly there were shouts and squeals as Bossbots and Skelecogs seemingly came out of nowhere. They pounced and several Toons were captured. They kicked and struggled in their captors' arms, some began to cry but the others cupped their hands to their mouths and bellowed encouragement.

The river of Toons, still going strong, continued out of the Factory. There were more machines in this room too, as well what looked like operating theatres. Roxy allowed her gaze to linger as she passed by. This must be some sort of Cog hospital, she thought.

Once again, as if the Toons could be fooled twice, Bossbots and Skelecogs were waiting in ambush. They pounced, and several Toons evaded capture by jumping, rolling or sliding by. Several, however, were caught unawares by falling empty crates and boxes which the Cogs had knocked down.

The stream continued on, driven by the mentality that someone had to escape, even if the total only amounted to one free Toon. Still, one was all that was needed to alert Mayor Flippy and the rest of Toontown.

Roxy looked around the next room, which appeared to be a lobby of some sort. Corridors branched off from the room in all directions, and there seemed to be no clear exit.

The group came to a halt.

“Darn, which way now?” the maroon pig wondered aloud.

“I guess the best option would be to split up,” said Twilight.

“All right, well, good luck everyone.” The maroon pig took off and the group began to dissipate.

 

* * *

 

Roxy found herself following a small group her cage buddies were leading down a promising grey corridor. The further it slanted up, the more their hopes increased and finally, it seemed like fortune was smiling on them; the fading light of the setting sun hit them as LD and Jenna pushed open the doors. The group walked outside in a semi trance, wide smiles nearly splitting their faces in two as they inhaled the fresh, clean air.

Then Foster looked ahead at the obstacle now standing between them and, hopefully freedom.

“Oh dear,” he said. “We seem to have stumbled across a maze.”

One of the Toons gaped at the imposing entrance to the hedgerow maze. “What?” he sputtered. “How are we supposed to get through that without a map? We'll get lost for sure!”

“Yeah,” another sighed. “And how do we even know this is the right way?”

“Now, now, let's not lose hope just yet,” Foster reasoned. “We don't need to know the way through the maze. If we stick to one side, we should be able to find the exit.”

“Arr, there is that,” said a voice behind them. “Or, ye can ask fer directions.”

The group turned around to see a Corporate Raider leering down at them.

“Into the maze!” Foster cried and dove in, running a hand along the right-hand side as he did. The rest of the group hastily followed, but Roxy was not so fortunate.

“Not so fast, lassie,” said the Corporate Raider.

She let out a shriek as he pinned her tail under his heavy foot.

Melody whipped around. “Rox!?”

“G-go on without me,” she whimpered.

The light purple rabbit hesitated.

“Go!”

She bolted after the others and the last thing she saw of Roxy was the blue Toon being dragged away.

 

* * *

 

Daisey, Firebolt and Twilight and a group of Toons were running down a labyrinth of grey corridor after grey corridor. They were starting to think that there was nothing worthwhile down the route they had chosen. Then Twilight suddenly came to an abrupt halt. “Ssh!” she hissed. “I hear something.”

Indeed, now that the corridor was no longer filled with the sound of the pounding of feet, they could hear the noise too. It sounded like rattling. And it was getting louder.

The group exchanged frightened looks, wondering whether they should run or stay.

Ahead they saw a Big Cheese wander into view. The Cog that appeared next was none other than the Chief Financial Officer.

“Now what's _he_ doing here?” Daisey wondered and ran after them.

Firebolt gawked. “Daisey are you brain dead? We can't go that way.”

“Oh yeah? How do you think the CFO got in?”

The group exchanged looks before reluctantly hustling after her.

At the crossroads, the yellow cat took a left, instead of a right.

“ _Now_ what are you doing?” Twilight asked with some incredulity.

“I'm going to find out why he's here,” she replied.

The black cat and Firebolt exchanged looks, heaved sighs and ran after her, while the other Toons headed for what was hopefully the exit.

The trio followed the CFO and his Bossbot guide from a distance. Firebolt hesitated when they turned off through a large doorway with the words “Maintenance and Repair: Bay 2” over the entrance.

“That doesn't look promising,” she observed.

“Yeah, let's go back.”

Daisey shook her head. “No way. We're going to find out what's going on.” The yellow Toon checked the coast was clear, then dashed across.

Firebolt and Twilight exchanged looks once again before following.

“Sorry I'm late,” the Cashbot Boss apologised as he parked next to the Senior Vice President. “Have I missed anything?”

“No. Big Cheese was kind enough to wait for your arrival,” the VP informed him, an edge to his voice suggesting that he did not really want to be here.

The three Toons, hidden behind a workstation raised eyebrows at each other.

“Big Cheese?” Twilight whispered.

Her companions just shrugged.

“Begin the awakening process now, Foreman.” That voice. That was the darker suited Big Cheese they had seen earlier today.

At first they heard nothing, then came the sound of whirring machinery as something started up.

“Hello,” said a new voice. “I'm the Chief Executive Officer.”

Firebolt gasped. “The Bossbot CEO, he's come online! We've got to get back to Toontown and warn everyone.”

“Wait,” said Daisey. “I want to hear more.”

“Hi,” said the VP flatly. “I'm the Senior Vice President.”

“A pleasure to meet you, CEO, I'm the Chief Justice.”

“And I'm the Chief Financial Officer.”

“Wow, that makes three Chiefs,” the CEO remarked sounding a little childish as he said it.

“Yeah, call me the odd one out.”

“Would anyone like a game of golf?” he asked cheerfully.

“Um. . . “ was the VP's immediate reaction.

“There will time for games later, my son. First you need to become acquainted with the layout of the Headquarters,” said the Big Cheese.

“Okay! Let's do that.”

“Wait, hold it.”

“Yes, VP,” the Big Cheese sighed. “What is it?”

“A Toon has gone missing by the name of Roxy McSocks.”

The trio exchanged wide-eyed looks.

“She has been providing us with the useful information you've no doubt been reading.”

“He asked me about that earlier,” the Chief Justice added. “but she was not among the Toons awaiting trial, nor was she amongst the captured Toons in Cashbot HQ, which can only mean that one of your Bossbots has seized her by mistake.”

“I see. It'll get right on that. Come, Chief.”

“Yes, Pa.”

“I sent 118-7 to your office since he's the one who's been dealing with her. I, in the meantime, am going home.”

The four Bosses exchanged farewells before the remaining two also departed for their headquarters.

“Um, Pa?” the CEO asked once they had left. “Does the VP not like me?”

“It's not you,” the Big Cheese replied. “It's me. Now let's go see about that Toon.”

The three Toons waited for the Bossbot and his so called son to leave.

“We have got to get this information out of here,” Firebolt remarked.

“Agreed,” said Twilight.

“Looks like the coast is clear,” Daisey observed. “Let's go!”

 

* * *

Roxy McSocks was curled up in a shivering ball in the corner of her cage. She was currently the only occupant and wondered how long it would be before either someone else joined her, or she would be taken for this experiment of theirs.

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and stared up with pure unfiltered horror at the Big Cheese standing outside her cage. Tears began to well up in her eyes as he unlocked the door and pulled it open. She swore later that her heart stopped beating then. So caught up in her dread was she, that she almost did not hear him ask her a question.

“What?” she asked in a hushed voice.

“Are you Roxy McSocks?” he repeated.

She nodded, dumbly, sensing that there may be hope for her at last.

“The Senior Vice President and 118-7 of the Sellbots has asked for you by name. Come with me.”

“Seven. . . Came for me?”

“ _118-7_ , yes. He's with the Master. And the Master doesn't like to be kept waiting.”

A dazzling smile slowly spread across her face. “He came for me.”

The Big Cheese rolled his eyes. “Good grief, I've said that twice already. Let's _go_.” He pulled her out of the cage and lead her to the Master's office.

A giant Cog was waiting outside, arms folded, drumming the fingers of one hand on his arm and looking bored. “Hi,” he said cheerfully once their gazes met. “I'm the Chief Executive Officer. You must be Roxy McSocks.”

The blue cat could only gawk at him as the Big Cheese dragged her inside.

“See ya!”

“Here she is, sir.”

“Is this the one, 118-7?”

“Yes that's her.”

Roxy stood and stared at the be-scarfed Telemarketer for a full five seconds before throwing herself at him to sob with relief into his suit.

His arms splayed out for balance as he stumbled back and he stared down at her in surprise. “What are you doing? Get off.” But when he pushed at her shoulders, she looked up at him with giant, tear-filled eyes and his expression softened considerably. “Roxy. . .”

118-7 heard the sound of someone's throat being cleared and looked up to see the two Big Cheeses staring at him.

“You can go now,” said the Master, gesturing towards the door.

“Uh, right. Of course.” He pushed her off, grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

“One more thing. The Toon saw nothing. Understood?”

Roxy swallowed and nodded. “Yes. . . sir.”

The CEO smiled and waved at them as they left. “Safe journey, friend.”

118-7 waved back, slightly bemused.

The Bossbot Master turned to the Big Cheese. “I want those two watched.”

He raised an eyebrow, but did not question him. “Yes, Master.”

 

* * *

 

Roxy was lead from the Bossbot Headquarters with Seven's scarf tied around her eyes, so at least she could honestly say that she had no idea where it was located. They walked together in a comfortable silence, until the Sellbot spoke up.

“Roxy, Toons who spend a day and or a night in a prison cell aren't normally as traumatised as you are. . . What happened?”

“Didn't the Master say-”

“Aside from the obvious, “you can't talk about this to other Toons”, he never clarified if this extended to me.”

“Um well. They were using us for an experiment which somehow involved Bossbots as well.”

118-7 halted in his tracks. “What?”

“I was told that every so often, they came and took a Toon behind a red curtain along with a Flunky but they didn't say if neither were seen again, or just the Toon. But later 244-9 told us that he'd heard that whoever goes in there, Toon or Cog, doesn't come out alive or in one piece. And 244-1 came out with these claw marks, they were so deep, they'd ruptured his oil tank and we could see his gears spinning.”

Seven stood in thought wondering just what in the Master's name was going on in there. “I'll report this to the Senior Vice President, if he doesn't know already, he's sure to find this interesting. Now come on, we're nearly there.”

Another lapse of silence before the Sellbot let go of her hand and helped her take the scarf-blindfold off. “You know your way home from here?” He asked as he wrapped his scarf back around his neck.

Roxy looked around. They were standing in front of 'their bench'. “Um. . .”

“What?”

“I. . . don't want to go home. . . alone.”

“I'd walk you home, Roxy, but then I'd know where you live.”

“I know. But I trust you.”

Seven's eyebrows shot up. This was exactly what he'd been aiming for and he was thus pleased by her response but it felt. . . different. He held out a hand. “All right then, if you put it like that. Lead on, McDuff, as the saying goes.”

She beamed and took his hand.

 

* * *

 

118-7 observed her house. In the fading light, the exact colour was hard to determine, but it seemed to be a light shade of green.

Normally he would have been disgusted by the sight, but he seemed to have become inoculated, or tolerant of late towards the Toons choice of building colour scheme.

“Here we are then. Still up for tomorrow?”

“Yes,” she replied, then remembered that it was after their meeting that the Big Cheese had struck. “Um. . . maybe.”

“I can walk you home again, tomorrow, if you wish.”

Roxy's face lit up. “Really? Thanks." She seized him by the lapels and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Good night, Seven.”

The Telemarketer was thunderstruck for a full ten seconds; he could have been bowled over with a feather. “What was. . . ?”

“Oh, er, I. . . um. . .” she ground one foot into the grass, avoiding his gaze. “Iloveyou.”

“What?”

“I love you.”

“Oh no I did hear you the first time.” He ran a hand through his air. “Are you sure?”

Roxy looked up, disconcerted by his reaction and nodded.

“I can't reciprocate your feelings, Roxy. I'm not programmed too.”

“Oh. I understand,” she replied, even as tears stung her eyes. “Good night.” Then ran into her house before he could respond.

He flinched as her door slammed, then frowned and shoved his hands in his pockets as he glowered at the grass. Well fine! It was her own fault anyway. He shot one last look at her house before taking off and heading home.

 

* * *

 

_118-7 observed her house. In the fading light, the exact colour was hard to determine, but it seemed to be a light shade of green._

_Normally he would have been disgusted by the sight, but he seemed to have become inoculated, or tolerant of late towards the Toons choice of building colour scheme._

“ _Here we are then. Still up for tomorrow?”_

“ _Yes,” then remembered that it was after their meeting that the Big Cheese had struck. “Um. . . maybe.”_

“ _I can walk you home again, tomorrow, if you wish.”_

_Roxy's face lit up. “Really? Thanks." She seized him by the lapels and planted a kiss on his. . . lips._

118-7 awoke sitting bolt up right in bed. “Not possible!” he breathed.

 


	8. Chapter 7: Aftershocks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Oh dear me, this chapter was a nightmare to write. It just kept getting longer. ;_; Ugh, this is going to be riddled with errors, or something's going to need rewriting. Anywho, enjoy.**

“ _Success, I assume?” The Senior Vice President asked, staring down at the small Cog in his hand._

“ _Correct, sir,” 118-7 replied. “The Bossbots had indeed captured her by mistake. But. . .”_

“ _But what, Seven?”_

“ _I'm afraid I have learned something rather troubling. It seems she was in line to be experimented on. However, this experiment somehow also involved Cogs-”_

“ _What!?”_

“ _And furthermore, a Flunky told her that whoever went in, Cog or Toon, did not return alive or in one piece.”_

_Needless to say the Vice President looked shocked. “My gears! What's that madman up to now?!”_

_118-7 raised an eyebrow at his Boss' choice of words._

_The giant Sellbot patted him carefully on the head. “Good job, 118-7. I'll contact the other Bosses at once.” He lowered his hand for the Telemarketer to step off._

“ _Er, one final thing, sir. It's about Roxy,” he hastily added, “McSocks.”_

“ _Go ahead?”_

“ _She's. . . er. . . in love with me.”_

_There was a pause before the Vice President burst out laughing. “She's_ what _?!?”_

_He sighed. “She's in love with me.”_

“ _Oh this is too good to be true!” He caught the Sellbot's almost guilty expression. “You don't look happy.”_

“ _It's disturbing, sir.”_

“ _Ah, yes, quite. But still, she trusts you now, yes?”_

“ _Absolutely.”_

“ _Then this is excellent news! Everything is going to plan, Seven, just like you said it would.”_

_The Telemarketer forced a smile and tried to sound pleased. “Indeed it is, sir.”_

 

* * *

_An incensed Big Cheese took in the cages now mostly empty of Toons. It was the end of the day and he was due to retire and recharge for the night, along with the rest of most of his Bossbots. He had heard the announcement on the way down to Maintenance and Repair: Bay 2, but had postponed dealing with it, needing to be there for his son's awakening and confident in the fact that 829-5 and his team would deal with it swiftly. His Bossbots were still diligently searching the Headquarters for the missing Toons, but the change over to the Night Shift was imminent._

_A good deal of Toons had been recaptured during their escape, and more had been recovered since, bringing the total amount to approximately half that of the original number. But that still left at least half free and wandering around Bossbot Headquarters if they had not escaped already._

“ _What happened, exactly?” he growled in a dangerously low voice._

_829-5 shot a look at 212-2 who swallowed and dropped his gaze to the floor. “He says the Toons caught him by surprise and over-powered him.”_

“ _Over_ what _?”_

_212-2 pulled his gaze from Big Cheese's black and white brogues, which had come to a stop before him and dared to look the Master in the eyes. “I was caught off guard,” he mumbled feebly._

“ _By a bunch of unarmed Toons!?” The Master raged causing the Bossbot to flinch back. “Were you not an eighth variant, I'd throw you into the machine myself for your incompetence!”_

_212-2 looked horrified at the suggestion. Even 829-5 seemed a little disturbed._

“ _If even one Toon escapes, my Headquarters, never mind the experiment, could be exposed for which_ my son is not ready _!” He took a moment to calm himself down. “Is there any good news?”_

“ _The Bossbots guarding the entrances have reported that no Toons have slipped out.”_

_Big Cheese narrowed his eyes at 829-5 and opened his mouth to reply._

“ _They also reported that they established a watch on the entrances moments after my announcement.”_

_He nodded. “Good. I'll see that they're rewarded for their actions. Continue the experiment in the morning.”_

“ _Yes, Master,” 829-5 replied before heading back to the room behind the red curtain to begin the shut down of the machine for the night._

“You _,” he pointed at 212-2 “can attempt to correct this fiasco we've found ourselves in by joining the hunt for the rest of the Toons. And I want_ every single one _back in those cages, understood?”_

_212-2 nodded and swallowed. “Y-yes Master.”_

“ _Then get going!”_

_The Big Cheese quickly shuffled away._

_He scowled after him and was most surprised to the see the Chief Executive Officer trundling down the corridor towards him. Even with his supports disengaged, he still had to stoop to fit under the low ceiling._

“ _You sure didn't have me in mind when you had this place built, Pa,” the CEO remarked. “What are you doing all the way down here, anyway?”_

“ _Dealing with a problem.”_

“ _Those escaped Toons?”_

“ _Quite.”_

“ _What did they escape from?” he asked with all the curiosity of a child as he glanced around at the cages and then the red curtain._

“ _That's not for you to know right now.”_

“ _Not even a hint?”_

“ _No.”_

“ _Aww but-”_

“ _I_ said _no.”_

_The CEO sighed in defeat._

“ _All in good time, my son.” He pulled out his pocket watch and his eyebrows shot up at the time. “So late? Come, Chief, it is time to retire for the night.”_

_The CEO waited patiently for his father to climb onto his tread guard before rolling back to the main area of Bossbot Headquarters, staring longingly at the red curtain with the eyes in the back of his head._

 

* * *

“ _Doctor Foster?” Princess Melody Twinkletoon asked, pulling the green rabbit's sleeve. “It's getting late.”_

_And it was dark, the small group could hardly see where they were going anymore. Foster sighed. “All right then. We'll continue in the morning.”_

_The group sighed with relief and settled down into groups, huddling together to keep themselves warm while they slept._

_Doctor Foster shoved his hands into his lab coat pockets and looked up at the night sky, electing himself Night Watch. He and the rest of the group jumped when they heard a small squadron of Cogs fly over the maze._

“ _What-?” Jenna began, alarmed._

“ _There must be Cogs guarding the exit. That lot must be flying out to relieve them,” Foster explained._

_Sure enough, they heard another squadron flying back to Headquarters, shortly after._

_The green rabbit turned to his frightened charges. “Now everyone get some sleep. We'll be getting up early tomorrow.”_

 

* * *

 

_The yellow cat, the red mouse and the black cat hurried back to the crossroads and followed the long, wide corridor up which their group of Toons had left through. The corridor sloped up and eventually they came through a large pair of thick steel doors. It looked promising, but their did not seem to be anyway to open them, then Twilight spotted a small console mounted onto the wall to their right. They hurried over to it. On the screen were two buttons; one green with open printed onto it in white font, the other red, with close._

_The trio exchanged looks; too easy?_

_Firebolt pressed open and the sound of machinery engaging sounded before the doors were pulled open, revealing. . ._

“ _What!?” Daisey gawked. “A dead end??”_

_Firebolt ran out into the opening to investigate. It was small courtyard with a concrete floor, encompassed by large, imposing brick walls. “There's a large metal trapdoor here. Or lift. . . Must lead underground.”_

_Twilight pressed the open button again but nothing happened. She scratched her head. “It must open a different way.”_

“ _Maybe it only opens for a Cog Boss,” Daisey suggested. The yellow cat gasped then. “Wait. Maybe this means that there's an underground network of interconnecting tunnels that link the Headquarters together, and this is how the Cog Bosses travel to the other Headquarters?”_

“ _Either way, we have to get out of here and get this information back to our own Headquarters, and we're obviously not doing it this way,” Firebolt replied._

“ _Yeah, let's head back and look for another way out,” Twilight agreed. She touched the close button and the three of them hustled back up to the corridor and back to the large room in which they had parted company from the main stream._

 

* * *

Doctor Foster hauled open his eyes when he felt someone shake his shoulder.

“Doctor Foster?” It was LemonDoodle.

“I'm awake, what's the time?”

“It's early, and. . . we've been hearing things.”

“What sort of things.”

“We think. . . well some of us think that they heard one of the Cog Bosses.”

If he was not awake already, he was now. “A _Cog Boss_? Are you sure?”

LD shrugged and looked towards a group of Toons that were trying to organise themselves into a tower so they could look over the hedgerow.

“Holy cows and mackerels!” The Toon, a yellow duck at the top exclaimed. “It's . . . it's. . . “ Confusion coloured his tone. “Who _is_ that?!”

 

* * *

The Chief Executive Officer rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“Thank ye for comin' down so promptly and at such an hour, young Cap'n,” said the Team Leader, Corporate Raider 212-9.

“No problem,” the CEO replied sleepily. “Call this a training run.”

“We're ready to lower the 'edge now, if you are, young Cap'n.”

He yawned one last time, shook his head and pulled out his giant golf club. “Okay! Let's do this!”

 

* * *

Melody jumped up, along with the rest of the group and looked around in fright at the walls of the maze as they descended into the ground. “What in tarnation is goin' on?"

“Oh no!” Jenna gasped. “We're losing our cover!”

“Everyone!” Doctor Foster called out. “Get ready to run!”

Once the hedge had lowered, the Toons could see a smallish group of top variant Bossbots ahead of them, and the large Cog Boss.

“Do you think that's the Bossbot CEO?” LD asked.

“Must be,” said another Toon, a tan horse.

The cry went up from the Cogs; “There they are!”

“RUN!” Foster bellowed.

“Charrrrrge!” 212-9 roared from his place on his Boss' tread guard.

“Aye! Avast!” The CEO added as he accelerated towards the terrified group of Toons.

“Young Cap'n, that means 'stop'.”

“Oh. Er. Ahoy!”

“That's ''ello'.”

He scratched his head. “Corporate Raider speak is so confusing.”

“No worries, young Cap'n. Ye'll get the 'ang of it.”

The Toons scattered and the CEO jammed on the brakes to come to a halt right in the middle of them. “FORE!” 212-9 hopped up onto the Chief's tank hull and hung onto his supports as he began to spin around faster and faster. The rest of the Bossbots quickly took off.

“What's he-?” Jenna began.

Suddenly giant golf balls came rocketing out of the giant Cog's undercarriage and several Toons went down.

“Keep running!” Foster yelled.

“We need to spread out,” LD shouted to anyone who would listen.

“All right,” Melody nodded. “Good luck.”

“You too.”

“Yeah, same,” Jenna added before she veered away.

LD felt something hard and round hit her from behind and she went down. The hotpink mouse rolled and came to a rest on her stomach. She couldn't believe her luck. Although she'd been hit, the golf ball had only clipped her. LemonDoodle watched the CEO from her place on the ground. The giant Cog had turned his attention away from her and was shooting golf balls after the fleeing Toons. Behind him, several Bossbots were carrying unconscious Toons back to their Headquarters. That meant that the number of Cogs chasing them had decreased. LD carefully turned her head. She saw a Toon go down and a Bossbot quickly descended to take him away. This did not look good; the CEO was a good shot. The hotpink mouse's eyes widened when she heard the sound of a Cog propellor getting louder and looked up. A Head Hunter was descending to retrieve her. She got up and bolted. Once again it seemed luck was on her side. Her sudden movement drew the attention of the Chief Executive Officer and he shot another golf ball at her. It hit the Head Hunter knocking him out of the air. His last words before he passed out were, “ _Nice shot_!”

LD's heart beat faster in her chest when she heard the sound of the Cog Boss' engine revving and looked over her shoulder to see him inevitably zooming towards her. Her eyes widened; there was no way she could outrun _him_.

“Hey you! Is that a golf hat or bad toupee?”

“It's a hat you ignoramus!” An outraged CEO yelped turning his attention to the tan horse.

“No Cap'n! Ignore 'im!” 212-9 cried, seeing the hotpink mouse getting away.

“Well either way, it doesn't suit you!” The tan horse continued.

The Bossbot adjusted his hat self consciously as the Corporate Raider face-palmed. “My _father_ designed this hat!”

The tan horse laughed. “Yeah? Was he drunk or something?”

“How dare you! You'll pay for that!” The CEO accelerated towards the tan horse and began to attack him with his golf club. The tan horse ducked and dodged; a determined look on his face.

“CAP'N!” 212-9 thundered.

“What!?” the young Cog snapped. “He insulted Pa.”

“If those Toons get away, ye'll 'ave legions of 'em descending upon arr 'Eadquarters every day.”

“B-but I haven't even been online for a day yet,” the CEO objected.

“They won't care. Now I'll deal with this one, ye can 'andle the rest. . . Cap'n.”

“Oka-er. Aye, aye!”

212-9 picked up the tan horse who began struggling in his grasp and flew back to the Headquarters.

The Chief Executive Officer looked after the Toons retreating backs, alarmed at how far they had got while his attention had been diverted. There were very few Bossbots left; it was up to him to get them all. He revved his engine and accelerated after them.

 

* * *

Twilight stretched and yawned. She rubbed her eyes and stared at her two sleeping companions. They had crashed in a storage room filled with barrels of confiscated Gags. The black cat pulled the lid off a barrel containing cupcakes and stuffed her face with them for breakfast. Sparing another glance at her still sleeping companions, Twilight pulled off the lid of another barrel and pulled out a feather. The two Toons giggled as she tickled their feet until they woke up.

“What time is it?” Daisey yawned.

“Breakfast,” the black cat replied handing her some cupcakes.

Firebolt stretched and took her pro-offered share.

The Toons got up and dusted themselves down once the had finished.

“The first thing we should do,” Twilight began. “Is look for some kind of map.”

Firebolt nodded in agreement but Daisey was looking around.

“What's up?”

“Well. . . since this is a Gag storage room, maybe they keep our confiscated Shticker books nearby?”

The red mouse scratched her chin. “If they don't?”

“Then a map is our best option.”

“All right,” said the black cat. “Let's move out.” She slowly opened the door a crack and peered out. The coast seemed to be clear, so she opened the door some more and stuck her head out. Her heart nearly stopped beating when she looked the other way.

A very tired and worn out 212-2 met her gaze. His eyes widened. “You!”

“Run!” Twilight yelped and shot out of the door in the opposite direction. Her companions were hot on her heels. And so was 212-2. The sound of his pounding feet behind them was quickly joined by that of his search team, along with cries of; “He's found some!” and “After them!”

The Toons picked up the pace and pulled ahead. The Big Cheese spotted a panel mounted on the wall as he passed by and pointed at. “Someone call this in,” he shouted over his shoulder to his team.

“I got it!” a Micromanager replied. “ _Attention all Bossbots in East Section G7, this is 768-4. We are currently in pursuit of three Toons. Repeat, three Toons spotted in East Section G7. Be on the look out._ ”

The sound of their leather-padded feet filled their ears for the next few moments, though they had lost sight of the escapees as ahead the corridor curled away.

Two's eyes widened. Ahead he could see Bossbots running _towards_ him. Both groups came to a halt.

“None this way, sir,” the lead Downsizer informed him.

212-2 suddenly spun around and bolted back down the corridor. He skidded to a halt outside the door they had passed and wrenched it open.

“Sir?” asked a Pencil Pusher as the both search groups caught up.

“Th-they found the Shticker Books,” he replied, beginning to shake in fright. “They got out.”

 

* * *

Daisey, Firebolt and Twilight looked around at their surroundings. It was Toontown Central. They cried unashamed tears of joy as they hugged each other.

“Now come on, we've got to tell Mayor Flippy everything we've discovered,” said Firebolt.

Daisey nodded. “Yeah, too bad we don't know where the Headquarters is, though.”

“But we can't have been the only ones to escape, though. . . have we?”

The two red mice just shrugged before the trio headed off to Toon Hall.

 

* * *

Roxy McSocks walked in through the classroom door and was immediately and literally pounced on by Lady Trixie, Chicken McNugget, Teddison Carter, Winky Dizzypop and Alvin Dynocrunch.

“Roxy!” they cried.

Mercedes Paw raised an eyebrow at the pile of Toons in the doorway, from which Roxy's muffled voice could be heard. “What's the occasion?”

Teddy pulled away. “Roxy was kidnapped, Au-Miss Paw!”

“What?!” She got up and yanked Roxy's friends off the blue cat. “Roxy? What's this about you being kidnapped?”

“Bossbots,” she mumbled. “Took me to their Headquarters.”

“Yeah, we had to enlist the aid of 118-7,” Alvin added. “Looks like he got you out okay.”

“. . . Yeah,” she replied, recalling the conversation that had happened afterwards.

“The Headquarters, do you know where they are?”

She shook her head. “I was blindfolded.”

Mercedes sighed in frustration. “So close. Anyway, are you otherwise all right?”

Again the Toon nodded.

The red bear ruffled her short blue hair. “Poor thing, you don't look it.”

“I'll. . . I'll be all right. I'm free now, after all.”

She smiled. “That's the spirit. Now then, since you weren't here yesterday you missed the Toon Task handout yesterday.”

Suddenly Twilight, Daisey and Firebolt burst in through the door. “Miss Paw!” they cried. “We've just escaped from Bossbot Headquarters!”

“Good grief! You as well?”

Roxy turned and beamed at the three. “You made it out!” The quartet group hugged and Trixie and company joined in.

“Boy have we got information to tell you!” Firebolt exclaimed in delight.

 

* * *

“I'm really, very sorry, 645-3,” said the CEO to the Head Hunter that was recuperating on his tread guard.

“And I've already said; don't worry about it, young Chief. No lasting damage done, after all.”

He sighed. “You don't have to keep up with the young, prefix. I get it already; I'm just a child.”

“Sorry, y- Chief.”

“Ahoy there, Cap'n,” Corporate Raider 212-9 called as he approached.

“Ahoy!” The CEO replied excitedly, happy to see his new friend again.

“How goes the recovery mission, Cap'n.”

“Very well! Look, see, I've nearly got 'em all.”

The Bossbot grinned and high-fived the young Cog. “Splendid job, Cap'n.”

He beamed, and shot down another Toon.

 

* * *

Doctor Foster watched the Toon, a dark blue dog go down. He stopped and looked back at the CEO. By the looks of it, he was next on the Cog Boss' list of targets. The dark green rabbit looked from the giant golf ball, back to the CEO, an idea forming.

The young Cog stared down in surprise at the rabbit Toon that was approaching, rolling a golf ball towards him. “What's this? 212-9, the little Toon wants to play golf.”

The Corporate Raider sneered. “Let 'im 'ave it, Cap'n,” as the Head Hunter looked on, amused. The Toon was simply standing there, holding the ball steady, but he had a fierce look of determination on his face.

The Chief lined up for a shot and in one swift, powerful stroke, sent the golf ball rocketing away. The three of them shielded their eyes and watched it fly. All of a sudden the giant Cog squealed in alarm. “He's on me!”

Doctor Foster leapt up from his shoulder onto one of his eyes and hauled off his hat.

“My hat! Give that back!”

The green rabbit jumped off onto his shoulder, onto the giant cog that served as his waist, onto his tread guard and finally onto the ground to begin stuffing the hat into the young Cog Boss' treads. He tried to reverse away but only succeeded in jamming the gears of that tread. The CEO howled in pain and began pulling at his hat, sobbing hysterically. “It hurts!” He wailed. “It _hu-urts_!”

“There, there, now, young Cap'n,” 212-9 consoled, patting him on the elbow as 645-3 dived after the Toon and catching him, headed back to Bossbot Headquarters. “We'll 'ave it out in a jiffy.” He looked around as two Downsizers and another Head Hunter touched down, drawn by the pitiful cries of their distressed Boss. “Come on, lads, let's get to it.”

The four of them seized great fistfuls of the golf hat and gave it a good solid tug. The CEO squealed in response. His Bossbots exchanged distraught looks; their attempts to help only seemed to be causing him further pain, but they prevailed. Bit by bit, the hat became unstuck and with his tread now un-jammed, the Chief finally began to calm down.

 

* * *

212-2 shook with fright as a furious Big Cheese seized him by the lapels and snarled into his face. “ _What did you say_?”

“Th-three Toons. Escaped. Th-they found the Schticker Books.”

The Master inhaled and then let go of the other Bossbot's suit to rub the bridge of his nose as he exhaled. “They found the Schticker Books, you say?”

“Y-yes Master.”

“So they teleported out from inside?”

He swallowed. “That's correct.”

“So they don't know where the Headquarters is located. This is good.”

212-2 started to relax.

“However. You still let them escape, did you not?” He growled.

He dropped his gaze to the floor. “Yes. . . Master.”

“In which case you are to report to the Factory Foreman to be downgraded to a starting level Corporate Raider, is that understood?”

The Big Cheese looked dismayed but nodded; he was lucky to be getting off with just that.

“Dismissed!” The Master spat and stalked off to get an update from 829-5, even though it was obvious that most of the Toons had been recovered during the night.

212-2 pulled out his mobile from his suit pocket when it rang. “Hello?” A pause as he listened to the other end. “Er, one moment.” He hurried to Big Cheese's side. “Master,” he began sheepishly and the Bossbot scowled at him. “It's for you.”

With some degree of surprise he took the mobile. “This is Big Cheese speaking.” A pause. “Er. . . Ahoy. . . matey.” He had never really got on with Corporate Raider speak. His eyebrows shot up in alarm. “My son? What about him?” Another pause. He sighed. “I'm on my way.” Then handed the phone back to 212-2 before stalking off back the way he had come.

 

* * *

Big Cheese looked at the still sniffing and whimpering Chief Executive Officer who was looking over the remains of his hat. “What happened?” He asked, surprising himself at the softness in his tone.

“A Toon, Cap'n. Jammed the young Chief's tread with his own 'at.”

He winced in sympathy. “And what of the Toons? Did any escape?”

The quartet exchanged awkward looks.

“F-four, Pa. I wasn't able to get 'em all. I'm s-sorry.”

His eyebrows shot up. “ _Four_!?” He looked to 212-9 for confirmation.

“Aye Cap'n. Four.”

“ _No_. . . “ He passed a hand over his face. “We'll have to go early, then. Head back, spread the word. _And then_!” He snarled, his tone changing before anyone could blink. “You can report in to the Factory Foreman for a two level downgrade!”

The Bossbots swallowed and nodded, muttering, “Yes, Master,” or in 212-9's case, “Aye, Cap'n,” before heading back to Headquarters to do as they were told.

“Pa. . . “ the CEO whimpered.

Big Cheese glanced around to make sure there was no one to witness the forthcoming open display of affection before climbing up onto the young Cog's cog-waist to give him a hug which the Cog Boss gratefully returned.

 

* * *

Mayor Flippy looked around at the four Toons. “You're the second lot that's come in. What have you to report?”

“We know where Bossbot Headquarters is,” Melody Twinkletoon replied.

Flippy's eyes widened. “Where?!”

Melody, Jenna, LD and the fourth Toon, a brown cat, exchanged grins. “Acorn Acres.”

“That's excellent news! I'll get a team organised right away!”

 

* * *

The Senior Vice President glanced around the interior of the young Chief Executive Officer's office. The room was the same drab grey colour as the corridors of Bossbot Headquarters, but the CEO had livened the place up a bit with brown banners, tapestries and monochrome paintings. It was unusual for a Cog, but considering the theme of the Headquarters he guessed it was also fitting.

“Well thank you for coming down so promptly, Vice President,” the CEO began cheerfully, having recovered from his ordeal earlier that morning, complete with a new hat and vest.

“You're the boss,” the senior Cog remarked sourly then regretted it when the CEO looked stung.

Disconcerted the Bossbot continued, “Um, we, er, that is, I thought we came off to a bad start, so I, er. . .”

“Wanted to get to know me better?”

“Right!”

The Sellbot glanced around the room once again, his gaze resting on the wall to his right, behind which was Big Cheese's office. “Yeah, well, I'd feel more comfortable if we were elsewhere.”

The CEO caught the scowl and bitter tone in the senior Cog's voice and glanced at the wall also. “You. . . don't like my father.”

“You can say _that_ again!” The VP spat.

“But. . . How come?”

There was a pause as the Vice President debated whether or not to explain. All of a sudden his expression brightened. He grabbed the CEO's hand and pulled him out of his office. “Let's go play golf!”

“Okay!” The young Boss replied excitedly. “Do you know how to play?”

The senior Cog beamed over his shoulder as he replied. “No idea!”

 

* * *

The Chief Executive Officer shielded his eyes and watched the golf ball fall. “That was a good shot, VP.”

The Vice President looked pleased with himself. “Your turn then, CEO.”

He lined up for and took a shot in a fraction of the time the Sellbot Boss had. The VP sighed.

“What?” The Bossbot asked, looking at him.

“No. . . it's nothing.”

“But you're doing great for a beginner,” and judging from his tone, he was being sincere.

“Well thank you, I just find it. . . I don't know. I've been around for a while, and you haven't even been online for a full twenty four hours and you're. . . walking all over me.”

The CEO giggled. “Well I was programmed to be able to play golf, it comes naturally to me.”

“Quite.”

“It's your turn, VP.”

“Huh? Oh right.”

He lined up for and took a shot, but had not taken the time to line up carefully. He growled in annoyance as a giant clump of dirt went flying instead.

“Take your time, VP. This is a game, not a competition.”

He smiled and pulled the CEO's hat down into his eyes. “Touché, Chief, touché.” Then took the time to line up for the shot. WHAP! The ball went flying.

“There. See?”

“Say, Chief. What do you know about an experiment your father's conducting?”

“Nothing. Although I think I know where it is.”

“Oh?”

“It's behind a red curtain in the lowest level. There was a bunch of Toons in cages leading up to it. Why do you ask?”

“Because this experiment also somehow involves Cogs as well. Which can only mean he's experimenting on his own Bossbots.”

“What?! M-my father wouldn't do that,” the young Cog objected.

“He _bullied_ me as a child, for no discernible reason!” the VP snapped. “I wouldn't put anything past him. Besides, _you_ don't even know him.”

“He. . . did that?”

The Vice President folded his arms. “Yes. And let's just leave it at that.”

“I. . . didn't know. . .”

“Yeah, well, there's a lot you don't know about him.”

He was silent for moment. “You really think he's capable of experimenting on Cogs?”

“. . . Yes. Why don't ask him about it?”

“He's said it was too soon for me to know.”

“Too soon for you to know about what, Chief?”

The two Cog Bosses turned to the source of the voice.

“Oh, Pa. The VP was asking about an experiment you're conducting.”

Big Cheese's eyebrows shot up and he looked to the VP. “How did you find out?”

“118-7 told me.”

“Oh.” He recalled with a grimace that he had failed to clarify that Roxy McSocks' silence had also extended to the Telemarketer. “I see.”

“Care to explain?”

The Master glanced at the CEO. “Chief, I want you to monitor the preparations. We're almost ready.”

“But Pa-” the young Bossbot whined.

“Don't argue!”

He sighed. “I'll talk to you later, VP.”

The VP smiled. “Until then, Chief.” He pulled out his mobile as the other Cog Boss trundled reluctantly away. “Now then Cheesy. You were saying?”

“I suppose you want an explanation, then?”

“Oh yes. The Chief Justice in particular would be _most_ interested.”

Big Cheese swallowed; the CJ was the only Cog with the authority to punish even him. “Very well then,” he began, then explained in detail the experiment and his reasons behind it.

The VP put the phone to his 'ear' and listened to the Lawbot's response. He sneered at Big Cheese as he replied. “Will do,” then put the mobile away in his suit pocket. “Oh I've been _waiting_ for you to step out of line, Cheesy. The CJ wants a word. _In person_.”

Big Cheese's eyes widened as the VP seized him; this did not bode well.

 

* * *

“Experimenting on your own Bossbots, never mind Cogs,” the Chief Justice raged. “I have never seen nor even heard of such behaviour in my life, not even from a Toon.”

“I have only the good of Cogkind in mind.”

“Why. . . You!” The CJ picked him up and slammed him against the wall.

The VP looked on with a mixture of amusement and surprise. He had never but never seen the level-headed Chief Justice lose his temper, especially in such a spectacular fashion, going so far as to partially defy the ingrained law that Cogs never attack other Cogs.

“How disappointing, Lamont,” The Bossbot Master coughed out. “Your father never exhibited such. . . outbursts.”

The Lawbot flinched and reigned himself in, slowly putting Big Cheese back down on the ground as he did so. He inhaled then spoke. “I ought to lock you away and throw away the key! . . . But that would leave Bossbot Headquarters in the hands of an untrained Chief Executive Officer.” He folded his arms and scowled at Big Cheese. “I have no choice but to let you off. But. This abominable experiment ends now! _Is that clear_!?”

Big Cheese swallowed his pride. “Crystal clear, your honour.”

“When your son has finished his training, _then_ , mark my words, you _will_ be punished. Now get out of my chambers!”

He bowed his head before leaving.

The Vice President smirked after him then turned to the Chief Justice. “What should I tell the CEO, Monty?”

“There's no sense in driving a wedge between him and his father at such an early stage in their relationship. Tell him it was a case of mistaken information. We can tell him the truth when I arrest Big Cheese.”

 

* * *

Melody, Jenna and LemonDoodle stared in disbelief at the rolling green fields, trees dotted here and there.

“I don't. . . “ the light purple rabbit began.

“But it was. . . “ Jenna added.

“It was right here!” LD finished.

The three turned to the team leader, a red horse. “Y-you believe us, don'tcha?” Melody asked.

He sighed. “Are you _sure_ it was this place.”

Now that he mentioned it, Acorn Acres surroundings were all pretty much the same. Maybe they had got turned around somehow. . .

Jenna sighed. “I. . . I don't know.”

The red horse patted her on the back. “Never mind, we'll find it someday. Now come on, haven't you three got class?”

 

* * *

The Bossbot Factory Foreman glanced at the readings on the monitor's of the Headquarters supercomputer. Everything was turning up green.

“What's the status, Foreman?”

He beamed. “All sections are well within margin of error, 829-5. I can confidently report a successfully sinking.”

“Excellent news. And the holographic projection device?”

“We were barely able to get it up in time, and with the amount of power it's consuming it won't last for long. But it's holding.”

The Big Cheese grinned. “The Master will be pleased.”

“The Master _is_ pleased, 829-5.”

829-5's eyes widened. “Master? I didn't know you had returned. How did it go?”

Big Cheese grimaced. “The Chief Justice has ruled that the experiment be discontinued.” He glanced over his shoulder at Bigwig 159-2, the Lawbot Second-in-command. “And _he_ is here to ensure that it is.”

159-2 smiled. “Let's get to work, then, shall we?”

Big Cheese shot him dirty look and marched ahead to the Experiment Holding Area. Behind his back, 159-2 and 829-5 exchanged smirks.

 

* * *

“And you haven't seen him for a few days, now?”

Roxy shook her head.

Flippy sighed and scratched behind his ear. “No idea why?”

_Because I told him I love him._ Again she shook her head.

“All right, well. . . the moment he resumes contact, let me know.”

“I will,” she replied quietly and left the building.

 

* * *

118-6 poked at Seven who was sprawled across the table, face down.

He moaned. “Leave me alone.”

“What's the matter, Seven?”

“Nothing,” he mumbled.

His siblings exchanged concerned looks. “You're not drinking your oil,” Four observed.

He pulled himself into a sitting position, downed his oil, then sulked, until he was pulled around to face his sister, One.

“Have you stopped brushing your hair?” she scolded lightly at his dishevelled appearance, then started combing it with her fingers, trying to tidy it up. “Now then,” she said, placing her hands on his shoulders. “What's the matter?”

“ _Nothing_!” he replied harsher then he had intended. “Stop asking.”

One raised her hands in surrender looking a little stung. “Fine then. Pardon me for caring.”

Seven swung his legs over the bench and stalked off, leaving his siblings to frown after him and exchange even more concerned looks.

 

* * *

Roxy McSocks looked once more up the darkening streets, peering through tear-blurred vision, hoping to see 118-7 walking towards her, but still she saw nothing.

 _Why?_ she asked herself. _Why did I have to tell him so soon?_ She'd rather have suffered with her feelings than not see him at all.

 

* * *

 _Pine, a mental and physical decline especially because of a broken heart._ 118-7 gripped the book, a stolen Toon-written book about romance, with slightly trembling hands.

_Pine for, miss and long for the return of._

It had been two weeks since he had had that fateful dream. Two weeks since he saw her last, muttering excuses to the Senior Vice President about her being ill or something. Instead it seemed like it was the other way around. As the book described, he was progressively deteriorating both physically and mentally.

He had only found out two weeks ago, so why was he taking this self imposed exile so. . .  _appallingly_ ? The Sellbot closed the book and traced the title with his finger. A good deal of his deterioration was due to raw fear. For him to love a Toon was not supposed to be possible. Was he then some kind of freak Cog, he wondered? A defect? Though he had no idea of the punishment for this behaviour since to his knowledge he was the first, 118-7 was certain that he would be disassembled and the consciousness stripped from his memories upon discovery.

He did not want to die. And yet. . .

 

* * *

Their gazes met and 118-7 halted in his tracks. “ _You_ ,” he hissed. “What have you done to me!?”

Roxy looked perplexed. “Wh-what do you mean?”

He seized the lapels of her duffel coat and pulled her in close to snarl in her face, “Do you have  _any_ idea of the misery you've put me through these past two weeks!”

Roxy's brow furrowed slightly. “What are you talking about?”

“That night, after you. . . after you kissed me, I had a dream. And I, no you. You kissed me again, but it was different.”

The blue cat's eye's widened in realisation. “You love me?”

He threw her to the ground. “Yes I love you!” he spat. “But I don't understand why. After that dream, I had to prove to myself that no, I was mistaken. But it turned out that I was not. These past two weeks, this  _horrible_ feeling has been getting worse and worse. I can't sleep, I can't work, I can't even  _talk_ to anyone. If my siblings, or my Boss were to find out, I. . .” He shook his head. “I don't even know the punishment for this behaviour.”

“So you just. . . decided to end our arrangement, without even telling me?”

“Yes I did. I thought I could ignore it. But. . . I can't.” He put his head in his hands. “What am I going to do?” His eyes widened suddenly. “Oh no! What if I suddenly can't control myself and I start blurting things that shouldn't come out of a Cog's mouth! What if-" SLAP! Startled, he spun around in a complete circle. “What was-?” he began, shocked, then stopped when he saw the angry, bitter tears sparkling off Roxy's fur.

“ _Two weeks_ ,” she hissed in a tone Seven had never heard her use before. “I've been coming here. _Two weeks_ I've been waiting for you to show up. Do I have any idea of the misery I put you through? Yes, because it's the same misery _you_ put _me_ through! If my friends found out, if any other Toon found out, I would be shunned for the rest of my life. But that's nothing compared to not seeing you.”

“But. . . I'm the enemy.”

“I know that. But I'm a Toon. And we're always open to trying new things. So. . . I'm willing to give this a shot, Seven. What about you?”

“I'm. . . afraid.”

“So am I.”

 


	9. Chapter 8: The Calm Before the Storm

“ _Wilson!” The Senior Vice President exclaimed with delight. He scooped the Bossbot up into a hug. “Did you come by to see me?” He continued in a chirpy tone, holding the CEO at arm's length, blissfully unaware of the look of shock morphing to outrage on Wilson B Cheese's face. “I hope so, because I only saw you once before and that was at my awakening and you didn't really say much and I'd like to get to know you better. My father says you're a good friend and I was hoping we could be good friends too since you're going to be the Boss and everything.” He finally noticed that Big Cheese was livid. “What's up?”_

 

* * *

_Mr Marvin Hollywood sighed. “What did Ol' Cheesy say this time?”_

_The Senior Vice President choked out through bitter tears, “S-same as always.” Large drops of oils gushed out of the Sellbot's eyes and fell, soaking into the sleeves of his suit. The Skelecogs would have to sew him another one, some detached part of Mr Hollywood observed._

_He recalled with a good deal of anger the list of biting remarks the VP had recited the first time he found him like this; too childish, not fit to be Vice President of Sales, worst of all “Don't know what your father sees in you”. It was not as if the VP was behaving in such a manner on purpose. His most trusted team of Skelecogs, headed by the Factory Foreman himself no less, had explicitly stated that he would first go through a “childish phase” as this was the best way his son could adapt to life and being the future Vice President of Sales. Indeed the same was true of all 'common Cogs'. All first variants started out insecure and naïve and matured through each upgrade._

_At the time of each of the factories' construction, this approach to Cog programming was the best the then very small Skelecog Tech Team could do with their current level of programming expertise, which was obviously nothing in comparison to, and his fists clenched at even the thought of the name, Gyro Gearloose's. But even then, they had mostly used a 'copy-and-paste' method, borrowing from the Founders' own programming. And through trial and error they had vastly improved; his son was proof of that, for he was the first Cog with a personality constructed entirely from scratch._

_But even with this vastly improved knowledge, they still had not been able to throw together a stable personality that was mature right from the off. After some unfortunate wording from the Factory Foreman, the first one went mad, massacring a quarter of his Sellbots, before he could be subdued (and the decision was made to wipe all memory of the incident from the survivors). The second one became so overwhelmed at taking over the Headquarters upon awakening that he sunk into depression and became so convinced that he could not do the job that the Tech Team had had no choice but to wipe his hard drive and start again. The third and final one, before the Skelecogs revised their approach at first seemed headed for the same fate as the second, before suddenly, wildly spinning into that of the first. No Sellbots were harmed, but Mr Hollywood had nearly died at his hands. At the last minute, he regained his sanity, but regretting his actions and not seeing anyway to reconcile with his father, committed suicide by ripping out his hard drive and crushing it. The exact details of the incidents had remained within the walls of Sellbot Headquarters; Mr Hollywood could not even begin to explain the events that had taken place, even to his best friend, Jasper R Baron and he did not want them to reflect badly on the current, working version of the Senior Vice President._

_All the other three knew was that the previous versions had not worked out, and had had to attend the Vice President's awakening four times. Only for Big Cheese to take an almost instant dislike to the only one that actually worked._

_Mr Hollywood pulled out the giant Cog's handkerchief and dabbed his eyes with it._

“ _How many times have I told you, Elmo, he doesn't know you; he can't judge.”_

“ _But-”_

“ _No buts. Just ignore everything he says.”_

“ _But-”_

“ _Elmo?”_

“ _I've_ tried _.”_

_Mr Hollywood sighed again._

“ _Master?”_

“ _Yes?”_

_A Glad Hander was standing in the doorway to the Vice President's office, looking apologetic. “The CEO is waiting in your office. He wants a word.”_

_The Sellbot Master's fists clenched and he let out a frustrated sigh before hopping off his son's cog-waist onto the floor._

“ _Dad?” he shook his head. “Don't go.”_

“ _Elmo. . . I have too. . .”_

“ _Please don't! I. . . I don't want to be alone right now.”_

“ _The Glad Hander can keep you company.”_

“ _But I don't want him, I want you.”_

_Mr Hollywood ran his fingers through his hair. “Elmo. . .”_

“ _Please, Dad?”_

_He stared at him for a moment longer before shaking his head. “I can't. . . He's the boss.”_

_The Vice President glared at him for a moment backing up into a corner of his office and leaning against the wall._

_Mr Hollywood put a hand on the Glad Hander's shoulder as he left. “Would you look after him for me?”_

“ _Yes of course, Master.”_

“ _Elmo I'll-”_

“ _Just go!”_

_He flinched, and briefly looked distraught before composing himself and leaving._

 

* * *

_Knock knock._ Roxy McSocks finished brushing her hair and went to answer the door. An excited Chicken McNugget was standing outside, jigging from one foot to the other.

“Roxy, hi! Are you ready for your first license upgrade?”

The blue Toon beamed. “Sure am.”

“Then let's go!”

Roxy hurried inside, picked up all her school bag and rejoined her lavender feathered friend at the door.

The duck pulled out a black hole from her Schticker Book and threw it on the ground. The two Toons held hands then jumped in.

 

* * *

Toontown Central was a hive of activity. Excited Toons from all the Beginners Classes were happily chatting amongst themselves as they waited for Mayor Flippy to arrive.

“Roxy! Chicken! Over here!”

The two friends looked around for the source and spotted Lady Trixie waving at them. She was standing in a group with the rest of their classmates. Mercedes Paw was talking with her nephew, Teddison Carter. They hustled over.

“Are you exited?” She asked.

“Duh,” Chicken replied good-naturedly.

“Yeah. Finally we can be of some help,” said Alvin Dynocrunch.

They looked to the head of the crowd when the surrounding Toons began to quiet down and saw Mayor Flippy taking the stand. The blue dog Toon grinned around at the crowd before him. “Congratulations to everyone on passing the first leg of your training. Although you still got a long way yet before you're all fully fledged fighters, every little bit counts so go on and give yourselves a cheer and pat on the back.”

Roxy and Winky Dizzypop giggled as they hugged and patted each other on the back, while the rest of their class did the same, or jumped up and down cheering.

Flippy pulled out a list of names, and after quieting the crowd, began to call them out, handing them a certificate once they had come up to the stand.

 

* * *

Roxy examined her certificate as she wove through the crowd, heading back to her classmates. She could not help but feel a little it guilty. After all, how was she to tell if the Cog she was attacking was one of Seven's friends or family? “Miss Paw?”

Mercedes pulled her attention away from the stand. “Hm?”

“We come back after two weeks, right?”

“That's right.”

“Okay, I was just making sure.”

The red bear smiled. “You get stuck in and kill plenty of Cogs until all right?”

“Sure will, Miss,” she replied, trying to smile and hoped it looked genuine.

“You'll be coming to party afterwards, won't you?”

“Yup, I'll be there.”

“I'll see you there, Roxy.”

“Later, Miss Paw.” Roxy moved away and sighed when she was out of ear shot. She would have to tell Seven, but she knew he would not be happy. The blue cat looked up at the call of her name and saw Chicken waving to her. She tucked her certificate under one arm and headed over to her friends.

 

* * *

Roxy McSocks smiled and purred when she saw 118-7 was already waiting on their bench, as usual. She ran the rest of the way and threw her arms around him. A moment passed before she realised that he was not going to return the hug.

“What?” she asked looking up.

“I, er. . .”

“Oh. Not comfortable with affection from a Toon, yet, eh?”

“Well. . . yes.”

“All right,” she smiled and pulled away. “I understand.”

“So, er. . . Now what?”

“Let's take a walk.” She held out her hand for him to take and he stared at it.

“A walk?”

“Yeah.”

He stood up and took her hand. “Where are we going?”

She shrugged.

“You don't know?”

“Nope.”

“This is most disorganised. I've never done anything nor gone anywhere without a reason.”

“Let's just see where our feet take us.”

118-7 sighed. “I'm not sure I feel comfortable heading to an unknown destination.”

“Oh, Seven.”

“What?”

“You're such a. . . a Cog.”

He blinked. “Why wouldn't I be?”

“All right, then, you're a Sellbot, no doubt you've been all round Daisy Gardens. Let's go too. . . I don't know. . . Donald's Dock?”

“Fine with me.”

“Oh, uh, Seven. . . ?”

“Hmm?”

“I . . . um. . . got my first license upgrade today.”

“License upgrade?”

“Yeah. . . It means can fight up to and including level three Cogs.”

“What!?” he snapped coming to a halt mid-stride.

Her ears drooped. “Um. . . I thought I should-”

“Thought you should what?”

“Let you know?”

“Humph. I was half expecting you were going to ask for my congratulations.”

“Of course not. . . I just. . . I don't know what to do. I'm supposed to 'get stuck in and kill plenty of Cogs'.”

“Have fun with that,” he spat.

“Don't take that tone of voice with me,” she replied angrily. “You haven't stopped attacking Toons have you?”

“No I haven't. Hundreds of my fellow Cogs are losing their lives each day. I'm not going to stop defending my own kind just because I've fallen in love with _you_.”

“Fine! Then neither will I!”

“This is ridiculous; this will never work!” He snarled, spinning around to march back home.

“No wait!” she cried desperately, ran to him and grabbed his hand.

“What?”

“Look. You and I, we've both managed to put aside our differences so far. . . and. . . My Mum told me that her folks weren't happy with my Dad but she stuck with him and that's taught her, she taught me, that love is never wrong. So I don't believe _this_ is wrong.”

“And yet, we're already at each other's throats.”

“No one said it would be easy, Seven.”

“Then what do you propose we do? We're on both sides of a war here.”

“I. . . I don't know.”

He folded his arms and closed his eyes, sighing.

“Let's just. . . let's just forget about it. . . Or compromise.”

“How?”

“You don't attack my friends, or family, and I won't attack yours but everyone else is. . .”

“Can you tell the difference?”

“Uh. . .”

“Then just stay away from Cold Callers, Telemarketers and Name Droppers.”

She nodded. “All right. You know who my friends are, don't you?”

“I believe so. But your family?”

“Oh well, Mum and Dad said they were too old to start fighting, Rachel's not eligible to sign up for another two years and Boxer, well he's really experienced, you wouldn't fight him anyway.” There was a pause before she spoke again. “I wonder how they'd react if I told them. . . ?”

“Not well I would imagine.”

“But we're not even doing anything bad.”

Seven sighed and caressed her cheek. “I know.”

Roxy smiled and purred, leaning into it. He smiled back. “Now then.” The Telemarketer held out an arm. “Donald's Dock wasn't it?”

 

* * *

118-7 glanced around the room, somewhat entranced by the décor. All he had in comparison was a single room which he shared with his siblings. It was dull and grey and the beds; solid metal bunk beds mounted to the wall.

The sofa he was sitting on was soft and gave beneath his weight. He ran his hands over the covers as Roxy was busy sorting out their home movie. The Telemarketer sank back into the cushions feeling decidedly out of place.

“All right,” she said at last. “We're all set.” She sat down on the sofa beside him. As the movie began he glanced at her trying to decide whether or not to put his arm around her. A few moments later, he did. She smiled up at him, purring and snuggled closer. Seven smiled back and could not help but notice how soft and warm she was.

 

* * *

He chortled, stopped, his eyes widening in realisation then began to freak out.

Roxy grasped his shoulders. “Seven, calm down!”

“But I laughed! We can't laugh! I'm going to die!”

“Well you don't look like you're dying.”

Seven stopped and sat there for a moment. “You're right. . . I'm not dead. Why am I not dead?”

“I have no idea.” The blue Toon pondered for a moment. “Have you noticed anything else like this?”

“Well I. . . Sellbot Headquarters has started to look a bit. . . dull of late. And work is no longer as fulfilling.”

“I wonder if this means that you're turning into a Toon?”

He looked shocked by the idea. “Is that possible?!”

“Who knows.” A sudden idea came to her. “Say, my friends and I are having a picnic tomorrow before some of them go home to visit their families, why don't you join us?”

“What for?”

“Show them you're different. Maybe they could help us figure out why.”

“Won't you have to tell them about us?”

“We'll just say we're friends and nothing more.”

“I put them in hospital.”

“Then apologise for it.”

He bit his lip looking dubious.

“Aww go on, you know you want to.”

118-7 sighed and shook his head. “I'm going to regret this.”

Roxy giggled. “No you won't. Now come on, we're missing the movie.”

 

* * *

118-7's metaphorical heart sank when he saw the Vice President once again waiting for him on the launch pad. The Telemarketer landed in the giant Cog's hand and tried not to look nervous as he met his Boss' gaze.

“What did you get this time?”

“Well, she showed me a movie, sir. . .”

“And what did you learn from it?”

“Er, well. . . nothing I didn't know already.”

The Vice President sighed. “So in other words you have nothing to report. Again.”

Seven swallowed. “Y-yes. . . sir. . .”

The giant Sellbot narrowed his eyes. “What're you so nervous about, Seven?”

His heart would have skipped a beat had he possessed one. “N-nothing, sir.”

“Then why are you stammering?”

“Um, well, like you said. I have nothing to report. Again. . . I. . . wasn't sure how you'd take it.”

The Senior Vice President, pulled his hand closer to better examine Seven. The Telemarketer could have reached out a hand to poke him in the eye. “Is that so? Because I wasn't aware that I was such a demon towards my subordinates. Is this the case, Seven? I'd hate to be deluded to the truth as I consider myself a decent fellow.”

118-7 stared back, speechless.

He sighed. “Nevermind, dismissed.” And lowered his hand for the Sellbot to step off.

Just as Seven reached the lift, the Vice President spoke, “Seven? Am I to understand you've been inside her house?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So she really does trust you, then.”

“Yes. . . I suppose she does. . .”

His boss smiled. “In that case, good job, Seven.”

He forced a smile. “Thank you, sir.” Then stepped into the lift. After the door's had closed, the Senior Vice President's smile vanished to be replaced by a narrow-eyed look of suspicion.

 _Could he be starting to_ like _that Toon?_

 

* * *

118-7 stepped out of the lift and sighed in relief.

“118-7?”

He turned and saw Sellbot Second-in-Command, Mr Hollywood 717-3 heading towards him. “I've been meaning to talk you. Come to my office.”

The Telemarketer swallowed. “Y-yes, sir,” and followed him. “Uh. . . What's this about, anyway?”

“You tell me.” They reached his office and entered. 717-3 picked up a maroon folder from his desk and handed it to him.

Seven read through the report and his metaphorical heart sank once again. It was feedback on his performance during the time he had been suffering from lovesickness.

“Well?”

“Um. . .” He looked up. “I, er, wasn't myself.”

The Mr Hollywood's eyes narrowed. “Quite. Care to tell me why?”

“Er, well, um. . .” He thrashed around for an answer.

“Now that I think about it, this period of substandard performance falls after Roxy McSocks confession of her love for you. . .”

“It does?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” He swallowed.

“I was against your idea, Seven, do you know why?”

“No, sir.”

“Because if you believed that you could get a Toon to trust you enough to reveal their secrets, then why should it not be so the other way around?”

“Because I know what I'm doing! Have some faith, won't you?”

717-3 scowled. “Forgive me if I suspend that for the time being. And you still haven't explained your poor performance.”

"I only need to explain, if it's still affecting my performance, if I recall. Well if you check my report, you'll see I'm back up to standard."

The Second-in-Command narrowed his eyes. “That _is_ correct. . .” He stared at him a moment longer before letting out a frustrated sigh. “Fine. You're dismissed 118-7.”

“Thank you, sir.” Seven handed him back the report folder and left 717-3's office, heaving a huge sigh of relief at his narrow miss when he was out of earshot.

Three looked over the report once again and narrowed his eyes. _Something_ was up. But what?

 

* * *

118-7 stared nervously around at the unfriendly glares of Lady Trixie, Chicken McNugget, Teddison Carter, Winky Dizzypop, Lammy and King Alvin Dynocrunch.

Trixie rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I'd ask if you were sure about this, Roxy, but you've already done it.”

Roxy grinned sheepishly and exchanged looks with Seven.

“Why did you invite him, anyway?” Chicken asked, her tone hostile.

“I wanted to show you that he's different.”

Alvin frowned. “What do you mean different?”

“He's more like us, now.”

There were stunned looks all round.

“Someone tell a joke.”

“What do you call a dead pirate?” Lammy began after a moment of silence.

“I don't know,” Seven dutifully replied. “What _do_ you call a dead pirate?”

“Long Gone Silver.”

And to their great astonishment, Seven laughed. Or chuckled, rather.

“He. . .” said Winky.

“That's awesome!” Teddy exclaimed enthusiastically and crawled over to him. “Are you ticklish?” He did not wait for an answer.

“Ha ha ha, sort of.”

Winky also crawled forward, a slice of cake in hand. “Hey, does this mean you can eat cake?”

“Er. . .” The Telemarketer looked hesitant, recalling one of the life lessons he had been taught as a very young Cold Caller; _“Never. Eat. Toon food. I cannot stress this enough.”_ But that was then. . . maybe it would be all right. “No harm in trying,” he smiled, taking and eating the cake.

“What do you think?”

The Sellbot grimaced at the taste; still too sweet for his liking.

She looked disappointed but understanding.

Trixie picked up the can of oil Roxy had brought along for him and squirted some over a slice of her cake. “Why not try this?”

He took the cake and ate it. “Mmmm, yes, that's better.” As he ate the rest of Trixie's cake, Winky squirted oil over the unfinished slice of hers.

“Here, have some lemonade.” Alvin Dynocrunch poured out a glass of his home-made lemonade for the Cog to drink and handed it to him.

Seven sipped it and his eyebrows shot up. “Nice, I like it.”

“A Cog likes my lemonade. I'd say that's quite an achievement.”

Chicken smiled. “All right then, I'd say it's about time to start serving the food. I'm getting hungry.”

The group exchanged delighted grins and began nattering amongst each other about the possibility of other Cogs becoming like Seven. Only Chicken caught the look Roxy and Seven exchanged, and she frowned.

 

* * *

Telemarketer 118-6 rubbed his eyes and yawned. He frowned and rolled over to peer over the edge of his bunk bed at 118-7 who was tossing and turning in his sleep and moaning in pain, loosely clutching at where his oil tank was positioned.

Six pulled the cables from his wrist sockets that connected him to the recharger mounted on the wall and climbed down.

“Seven?” he asked softly, shaking him by the shoulder. “What's up?”

His eyes fluttered open and his moans turned to screams of agony, wresting the rest of his siblings from sleep.

“Whassapening?” One asked. Then sat bolt upright when she registered the fact that one of her siblings was in trouble.

The 118 batch crowded around their youngest member.

“What's the matter with him?” Five asked looking worried.

“I-I don't know. I think there's something wrong with his oil tank,” Six replied.

“Come on Two, help me get him to Maintenance and Repair,” said One.

“Seven stop struggling, you're not helping,” Two scolded as they tried to pick him up.

“It hu-urts!” he wailed.

 

* * *

The Skelecog pulled out the oil tank from an unconscious 118-7 while his siblings looked on and hefted it. “Blimey, this is heavy.” He shook it. “Hmm, but no oil.” He opened it and shook the contents out onto a nearby tray. All recoiled at the sight of the black, sticky gunk that emerged.

“What _is_ that?” asked a horrified Four.

“My gears,” the Skelecog replied in disbelief. “What has he been eating?”

Five frowned. “Eating? We don't eat.”

“Exactly.” He woke Seven and pointed at the heap of gunk. “118-7 is that _cake_?”

“Uh. . .”

“Oh Seven, you didn't,” said Two.

“But they'd all baked them especially and it seemed rude not to try them and besides I was curious. . .” he babbled.

“Well that oil tank is going to need replacing. Let's see what else you've messed up,” the Skelecog continued, peering into 118-7's inner workings. He pulled out the Sellbot's oiling mechanism that oiled gears that were difficult to reach. “This is done for too,” he sighed. “And your rear set gears have been contaminated.” The Skelecog looked around at his siblings. “This is going to take a while, you might as well head off to work.”

His siblings bid him farewell and left Seven in the Skelecog's capable hands.

 

* * *

Roxy hurried to the phone and picked it up. “Hello?”

“Hi, Roxy, it's me.”

Her expression brightened. “Seven!”

“Listen, um, about dinner tonight. . .”

“You can't come?”

“Er, no. I can't eat your food, it jams my gears.”

“Aww, but I was going to cook you all sorts of stuff.”

“I know, and I'm sorry.”

“Ah well, it's not your fault. But you're still coming over, right?”

“Yes and I'll just have oil.”

“I don't think I have any. . .”

“I'll bring my own, then.”

“Oh no, it's no trouble. I can get some.”

“Oh. . . All right, then I'll see you tonight.”

“I look forward to it.”

“Goodbye, Roxy.”

“Love ya.”

Seven smiled. “I love you too.” He put his mobile away in his pocket and picked up his notebook from his desk as he left the bedroom.

 

* * *

_Knock knock._ Roxy McSocks hurried to the door, pausing briefly in front of the mirror hanging in the hallway to fix her hair. “Seven, hi, come in.” She moved aside to let the Sellbot enter her house and watched him with a smile as he looked around somewhat bemused.

118-7 glanced around at the decorations. Although he had been in her house once before, she had since changed the décor. He noticed that she was starting to bring the signature colour of the Sellbots into her house and he was pleased as much as he was concerned. “Something smells nice,” he remarked. “Oh.” Backlit by the lights from the living room, Seven had not been able to properly see her choice of outfit for the evening.

Roxy flushed and plucked self consciously at the sleeves of her burgundy gown. “You like?”

“Y-yes. . . You look. . . beautiful.”

She beamed and he smiled back. There was a brief pause before Roxy suddenly exclaimed. “Oh! Dinner must be ready by now. Sit down, Seven, and I'll serve it up.”

 

* * *

Big Cheese 099-5 narrowed his eyes at the pair as they emerged from Roxy McSocks' house. He hunkered down further into the shadows, pulled out his mobile and speed-dialled a number.

“Big Cheese, speaking,” said the voice on the other end.

“Master, this is 099-5.”

“What have you to report, 099-5?”

“They hugged,” he spat sourly down the phone, scowling at 118-7.

“Well well. That _is_ an interesting development in their relationship.” He drummed his fingers on his desk as he pondered. “But it's not strong enough yet. Keep watching them.”

“Yes, Master.”

 

* * *

Roxy snuggled closer to 118-7, purring. They were sitting on their bench, watching the setting sun.

“The first time we met up, you said you could only see a mishmash of colours. What do you see now?”

Seven smiled. “ _Not_ a mishmash of colours.” He looked apologetic. “Although I'm afraid my tastes are still a little more monochrome. I do appreciate the reds, however.”

She snorted. “Right, Sellbot.”

“Oh, uh, Roxy, I. . .”

“Mmm?”

He fished around in his breast pocket and pulled out a necklace of the Sellbot Insignia. “I made you this.”

The blue cat took it in her hands and stared at it. “Wow. . . How did you. . . ?”

“I used spare materials from Maintenance and Repair. The Skelecogs won't miss it. . . I hope.”

She purred and rubbed against him. “Thank you, Seven, it's lovely.”

“And on that note,” he sighed, standing. “It's getting late and I have to get back before I'm missed.”

Roxy smiled standing up on the bench. “You know, Seven. I never really did thank you properly for saving me.” She seized him by the lapels and pulled him into a kiss. He stared at her wide eyed and slack jawed after she had broke off.

 

* * *

“She-she _kissed_ him!” The Big Cheese sputtered into his mobile phone.

On the other end, the Bossbot Master raised his eyebrows in interest. “Did she now?”

“And-and now _he's_ kissing _her_!”

“Well this is excellent news. Bring them in.”

“With pleasure,” he snarled as he watched the two with disgust.

“I want them brought straight here.”

“Shouldn't I-?”

“No. Bring them here. Is that clear?”

099-5 narrowed his eyes. What could he possibly want with them?

“099-5?”

“Yes. . . Master.”

 

* * *

Mercedes Paw yawned and stretched, rubbed her eyes and glanced at the look. Whoa was that the time? The red bear picked up the feedback reports and stuffed them into her satchel. She'd have to finish the rest of them at home, she thought with a sigh, which meant a late night. Mercedes looped the strap over her shoulder and glanced around the class looking for coats or other things her students might have left behind and spotted a book on Roxy McSocks' desk.

_That ditzy girl, she's gone and left her Shticker Book behind._

No doubt Roxy would be fretting if she had noticed it gone and thought she had lost it. Best to take it to her now. The red Toon put the Book in her satchel and left the school, headed for Roxy's house.

 

* * *

Mercedes Paw's eyes widened when she heard the sound of Cog propellor, belonging to a large Cog too no less, judging from the volume. She looked up and saw a Big Cheese flying by and she had to do a double take, for there tucked under one arm was a struggling Roxy McSocks, her cries barely audible over his propellor. Being dragged along behind the Bossbot was Roxy's contact, the scar-wearing Telemarketer, 118-7. He too was trying to break free of the Big Cheese's grasp, but he was greatly outmatched in strength, even without a speed set gear type set up.

Mercedes frowned. This was most odd. She could only conclude that both were being kidnapped. She followed the Big Cheese's flight path. And by the looks of it, they were being taken to Bossbot Headquarters. The red bear pulled out a black hole and threw it on the ground. If 118-7 was being kidnapped, then Senior Vice President would want to know.

_That is_ , she thought.  _If I can even get to him to explain that. . ._

 


	10. Chapter 9: The Red Curtain

Telemarketer 118-7 glanced over to Roxy McSocks, who was tucked under the arm of their captor, Big Cheese 099-5. She had gone limp, but her barely audible whimpers assured that she was still conscious at least. He too had given up struggling and stared glumly ahead as Bossbot Headquarters steadily loomed closer.

Seven had already tried demanding that 099-5 tell them why they were headed to Bossbot, instead of Lawbot or even Sellbot, but the Big Cheese had remained stubbornly silent, leaving him to assume that he either knew and was not telling them, or he did not. The Sellbot found neither particularly comforting.

At last 099-5 landed on the Launch pad. Seven was not surprised to see the Bossbot Master, Wilson Big Cheese waiting for them.

“Here they are as ordered, sir,” 099-5 said throwing the pair at the archaic Big Cheese's feet.

He smirked. “118-7, Roxy McSocks, welcome.”

Seven got shakily to his feet. “W-what do you want from us?”

Instead of replying, he pulled his mobile from his breast pocket and dialled in a number. “Five, this is Wilson Cheese. Head on down to the machine and start it up.”

“What machine? What are you talking about?”

The Master smirked down at him as he closed his mobile with a _snap_. And then it rang. He looked surprised and glanced at the caller ID before answering. “Yes, VP, what-?”

A loud angry noise erupted from the mobile phone, causing the Bossbot to flinch and pull it away from his audio receptor.

“How did you-?”

Another loud angry noise.

“I see.”

A quieter yet no less angry noise.

He smirked. “Please do. We'll be waiting in the Main Experiment Area.”

The VP sounded shocked at that. But whatever he was in the middle of saying was cut off by the Master closing his mobile and putting back in his pocket. He glared at 099-5. “You were spotted.”

099-5 looked chagrined. “Whoops.”

“But no matter, I believe I can use this outcome to suit my purposes. Seize these two and follow me.”

 

* * *

Roxy McSocks began to shake with fright when she recognised where they were being taken. Ahead lay the red curtain that countless Toons and Flunkies had been hauled through, never to be leave alive or in one piece, so the stories told. Having thought she had escaped this fate once before she had thought that she had seen and heard the last of it. But how cruelly the threads of fate had twisted.

The red curtain was pulled aside and the monstrosity that lay behind it was revealed. In the centre of the large open room was a single, yet huge machine consisting of three separate capsules. There was a light above each one, currently red, and several cables from the outer capsules fed into the middle one. She could not see clearly from this angle, but there seemed to be a power generator behind it, for she could hear it humming.

A small team of about ten Corporate Raiders were carrying boxes to the machine and pouring the contents into small compartments at the back, above the generator.

A few feet away from the machine, and connected to it by yet more cables was a console. Another Big Cheese was standing over it, examining the read out.

“829-5,” said the Master. “What's the status?”

“It'll take another few minutes before the machine has finished the start up process, Master,” 829-5 replied.

He nodded. “I'm expecting a guest, the Vice President to be precise.”

829-5's eyebrows shot up at the name.

“Will we be ready to go by or before then?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Good.” He turned to Seven and Roxy. “In the meantime I suppose it can't hurt to explain what all this is.”

The two exchanged frightened looks.

“This machine is a Hybrid manufacturer. The pod on the left scans the information of a Cog, and the other scans that of a Toon. The information is combined and a Hybrid is born,” here he gestured towards the middle capsule. “All of the Hybrids so far have been born insane, savage and uncontrollable monsters, resulting, unfortunately in the deaths of many Cogs and Toons.”

“ _. . . Or in one piece.”_

Roxy's eyes widened. “Th-they ripped them apart, didn't they?”

“Indeed. I programmed the machine to equip the Hybrids with extendable claws which are capable of ripping through metal.”

Seven was appalled. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“The Hybrids are to be my attack force. Part Toon to yield immunity to Gags and part Cog to yield loyalty to the Cogs. I gave them claws for hurting Toons, but not with the intention to kill. In the face of such an opponent, the Toons _will_ surrender, and victory shall finally be ours.”

“But you just said they were savage, insane, uncontrollable monsters.”

Wilson Cheese smirked. “I'm hoping you two will fix that.”

Roxy and 118-7 exchanged looks. “Wh-why us?” she stammered.

“All Hybrids so far have been born of parents who hate the other. I have deduced that the machine programs the offspring with the hate of their parents which they were then unable to reconcile and were driven mad. You on the other hand are in love. I believe, I am hoping, that because of this your Hybrid will one, emerge sane and two, fix the machine as it were.”

“What if it doesn't work?” asked 118-7.

The Bossbot did not reply.

829-5 looked up from the console. “Master, the machine is ready.”

He smiled “Excellent. Now all that's left is to wait for the Senior Vice President.” All turned to the entrance, from which a steadily increasing rattling noise was emanating. And sure enough, it was the Vice President, his supports disengaged, and stooped to avoid the low ceiling. “All right, Cheesy, explain. Why did you kidnap 118-7?”

Wilson nodded to 829-5, who nodded to 099-5 as he turned back to the console. “He has fallen in love with Roxy McSocks.”

The VP took a few seconds to process the information. “ _What!?_ Seven is this- hey! Stop that!”

099-5 who was pulling Roxy and 118-7 to the machine, halted.

“This is in direct violation of the Chief Justice's orders.”

“One last experiment, Vice President, is all I ask. I believe these two are the key to the conundrum.”

“And what if they aren't?”

“Then this will be the end of it. If they don't fix the problem, nothing will.”

“All right,” he sighed. “Since you put it like that.” He nodded to 099-5. “Carry on.”

Seven looked at his Boss, horrified. “S-sir?”

“Don't worry, Seven, you won't come to any harm on my watch.”

As the Telemarketer disappeared into the machine, Wilson glanced up at the Vice President. “I'm curious as to why you are not more. . . disgusted by the news.”

“This has happened once before.”

The Bossbot was speechless for a full ten seconds. “. . . What?”

“He was a very young Cold Caller at the time. His hard drive was rebooted while he was still conscious,” the old Cog flinched in sympathy “and his memories of the incident were erased.”

“So this. . . infatuation can be fixed?”

“Yes, I'll be taking him home once you're finished with him.”

“If this works, I'll need him to train his Hybrid in the ways of the Sellbot.”

“Fair enough.”

The outer capsule doors opened and Roxy McSocks and 118-7 stumbled out. The lights above returned to red, while the middle one switched to green. All eyes were on the middle capsule, which was humming and whirring as it constructed the Hybrid. The team of ten Corporate Raiders stood ready to spring into action but with the Senior Vice President also in the room, it was likely they would not be necessary. At last all noise ceased and the green light flicked back to red. The door opened with a hiss and the Hybrid emerged, blinking into the light. She was a small blue cat, slightly taller than Roxy, but shorter than 118-7 with black hair and dressed in a Sellbot suit.

Seven and Roxy gaped at her.

The VP stared at her with wide eyes.

“I. . . think it worked,” said Wilson. “You, Hybrid. Come here.”

She looked at him bemused. “Who me?”

“Yes, you.”

She obeyed and looked at him in fascination.

“What do you feel when you look at them?” he asked gesturing to Seven and Roxy.

The Hybrid looked and them and said nothing as she approached.

118-7 and Roxy clung to each other in fear. “I love you, Seven,” she whimpered.

“I love you too, Roxy.”

The Vice President was not sure what to do. The Hybrid did not look all that threatening, in fact she looked more curious if anything.

Just as her parents were sure that this was the end for them, she smiled and hugged them both. “I hate neither Toons nor Cogs, sir,” she proclaimed happily.

The Bossbot Master was at a loss for words. So were Seven and Roxy.

The VP on the other hand roared with laughter. “ _This_ is to be your attack force? Oh I can see it now, Toons on their knees, begging for mercy. Heck I would too, faced with such a _terrifying_ opponent.” He calmed himself down and wiped the tears from his eyes. “Now then, if you're quite finished.”

“Yes, yes,” Wilson growled. “Take him away.”

“Mum! Dad!” The Hybrid cried as the VP scooped up both her parents and took them away. “No!” Tears spilled from her eyes and she fell to her knees sobbing. What was she to do now?

“What do you want done with the Hybrid, Master?” asked 829-5.

“Seize her and throw her in one of the jail cells. I'll figure out what to do with her later. As for you, you're all dismissed.”

“Aye, Cap'n,” the Corporate Raiders replied and began to shuffle away.

She looked at 099-5 with fright, then movement caught her eye and she looked beyond him, to the entrance. The Big Cheese noticed and followed her gaze, as the cry of “Avast!” went up, to see a red bear tearing across the distance towards the Bossbot Master, blitzing past the lumbering Raiders.

“M-Master! A Toon!”

“Hang on, kid!” Mercedes called, seizing Wilson Cheese and throwing him towards the machine.

“What in the-!” He stumbled, regained his footing and looked up in time to see a wide-eyed 829-5 being hurled at him and was forced back into the capsule from the impact. Before he could recover, the capsule door hissed shut. “No!” he yelped, banging on the door. “Stop her!”

Mercedes pointed the console. “You hit that button when I get in, all right, then you hit that one, comprende?”

The Hybrid nodded.

“Good girl.” She ran over to the empty capsule and got in. The Hybrid hit the button and the door closed. She hit the other and the machine began the scanning process.

829-5 got unsteadily to his knees and shook his head. “Seize that Hybrid and stop the machine!” he bellowed even though 099-5 and the team Corporate Raiders had already been doing so and were almost upon her.

“Uh oh.” The Hybrid unsheathed her claws and swiped through the console's base. The screen went dead as it toppled to the floor.

“ _No!_ ” 829-5 gasped. There was no stopping the machine now.

The Hybrid dodged 099-5's dive, kicking him in the knee to help him on the way down and easily evaded the Raiders attempts. Clearly they were not used to dealing with a Hybrid as agile as she was.

Both capsules hissed open. Mercedes shot out of hers like a bat out of hell, seizing ahold of the Hybrid's hand as she passed. “Come on, kid, we've got to go.”

“Master? Are you all right?” asked 829-5 as the Bossbot emerged.

Wilson adjusted his suit. “Yes, I'm fi-” he registered the destroyed console. “No!”

The Corporate Raiders had already begun assembling before the machine, ready to apprehend the Master's Hybrid, but they were nervous. The previous Hybrids, though savage and insane, were only half Flunky and never half bear.

Above the middle capsule, the green light switched to red and the doors hissed open. The Hybrid, a tall red bear with hair that faded to yellow emerged into the light, grimacing. She took one look at them and attacked, her face contorting in rage.

099-5 who had wisely stayed back in case their was trouble, bolted for the comm device.

“ _This is 099-5 in the Main Experiment Area. All Bossbots in the vicinity are to drop what they are doing and report here immediately! Repeat any and all Bossbots in the immediate vicinity of Maintenance and Repair report immediately!_ ” And then as an afterthought. “ _That includes the CEO!_ ”

 

* * *

The Chief Executive Officer looked up from his newspaper at the announcement, intrigued. If 099-5 had referred to him by name something serious must be happening. He folded his newspaper up and headed down to Maintenance and Repair. He wondered if perhaps his father was there also, which would explain the tone of the announcement. The thought worried him and he picked up the pace.

 

* * *

The Hybrid's claws scythed through the Corporate Raiders' metal skins with alarming ease. They stumbled back with cries of “Yaargh!”, clutching their chests as oil seeped out of their wounds.

“Me oil!”

But the Hybrid seemed confused, for instead of finishing them off completely, she cast her gaze wildly around the room before spotting 829-5 and her father and advanced on them.

829-5 put himself between the Hybrid and the Master. She paused, momentarily surprised by his decision then attacked. Instinctively, he raised his arm to block the attack and watched in horror as she sliced his arm off at the elbow, like a cucumber. Sparks shot out of the end. She followed up with another strike, but he was pulled to one side and out of harms way by Wilson Cheese. The Corporate Raiders had used their reprieve to regroup. Several of them rushed at her and rugby tackled her to the ground.

“Get off!” she snarled.

Wilson was stunned. “She can talk. . . ?”

The Hybrid threw them off but was tackled to the ground again by the remaining Raiders.

829-5 tugged on his arm. “Master, we should leave.”

“I want that Hybrid alive, you hear me?”

The Corporate Raiders stared at him as if he was insane. “Cap'n?”

“You heard me.”

“Aye Cap-” the Hybrid threw them off and lunged at her father.

“Master!” 829-5 yelped and hauled her off before she could do him any real harm. The Bossbot got his remaining arm partially hacked off for his trouble. He watched in horror as the Hybrid began to lay into the old Cog, hacking through his left shoulder, most of his left arm and the left side of his head as he trembled on his knees, covering his head with both arms, even though that was doing nothing to protect him.

“Pa!” the CEO cried in alarm as he emerged from the entrance followed by a horde of Bossbots.

“Roscoe,” the Master whimpered as the Hybrid looked up at him and froze in shock.

The young Boss glared down at her and whipped out his golf club.

“Don't kill her.”

He cracked the golf club over her head and she crumpled to the floor, unconscious. “Pa. What happened? What is that? And what is all this?”

“A Hybrid,” he mumbled. “Your sister,” and then passed out.

“Pa!” He scooped him up and hugged him.

829-5 looked around at the Hybrid unconscious on the floor. “I suppose we had better get her properly restrained.” Then around at the equally confused horde of Bossbots.

“Help the injured up to Maintenance and alert the Skelecogs.”

The Bossbots stepped to it.

“Chief, as acting Director in your father's absence, allow me to explain what all this is.”

The CEO glanced down at the unconscious Wilson Cheese then nodded. “Okay, explain away.”

 

* * *

Mercedes Paw and Roxy and Seven's Hybrid hotfooted down the same corridor that Daisey, Firebolt and Twilight had also traversed. Ahead was the Senior Vice President, his second pair of eyes locked on theirs. Even though they were fast catching he had neither increased nor decreased his speed since spotting them.

“Come on, we can make it,” Mercedes encouraged.

The Vice President came to a halt and spun around to face them to calmly watch their approach with his main pair of eyes.

“Miss Paw!” Roxy McSocks cried, struggling to break free of the giant Sellbot's grasp.

“Hang on, Roxy,” the red bear called back. She had followed the Vice President or rather the Vice President had _allowed_ her to follow him through the tunnels to Bossbot Headquarters so she was aware that only a Cog Boss could operate the lift the VP was currently sitting on. He began to descend into the floor.

“No!” She grit her teeth and pushed herself to go faster.

This was their one chance to catch up to him. If they lost him now, he would raise the security of Sellbot HQ and it would be a nightmare trying to get in.

The VP disappeared from view.

“Come on kid, not much further. The lift still has to close up again before he's lost us.”

But fortune was not on their side. The gap between the lift and the floor closed just as they reached it. In the split second before it did, Mercedes glimpsed the Vice President smirking up at them. “NO!” She kicked the lift in frustration then slumped in defeat.

“Wh-what do we now?” the Hybrid whimpered, beginning to cry again.

The red Toon hugged her and ruffled her hair. “We get out, we go home and we wait. For something.”

“How?”

She pulled out a black hole and threw it on the ground. “It's too hot to leave through the entrance, Bossbot Headquarters will have to remain undiscovered another day.” They held hands and jumped in.

 

* * *

118-7 struggled as the Factory Foreman strapped him down to the operating table.

“Wh-what are you going to do me?”

“Analyse his hard drive, Foreman. I want to see if the same program that was in that Cold Caller is active in him.”

The Foreman nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Roxy McSocks struggled in the grasp of Sellbot Second-in-Command, Mr Hollywood 717-3. “No! Leave him alone!”

“Quiet, Toon,” 717-3 hissed and squeezed her shoulder until she did.

“Here we go, sir, I've found it,” the Foreman announced and pointed at the monitor he was standing before.

“Can we get more information about it? Last time our technology wasn't as good as it is now.” He glanced briefly at 717-3 who frowned back, wondering why he had.

“One moment.” There was a brief pause, filled by the sound of the Foreman typing something into the computer. “Oooh. That's interesting.”

“What?” chorused the VP, the Second-in-Command and 118-7.

“According to this, the program was installed into his hard drive during his construction and his been in a dormant state until it was activated.”

“ _What!?_ ” The VP and 717-3 shouted in unison.

“That's-” the Cog Boss began.

“How is that possible?”

The Foreman scratched his 'chin'. “Well. . . a Toon with sufficient knowledge could have reprogrammed the Factories to include this program on the hard drives of all the Cogs it constructs. How long ago this was done, I do not know.”

“Could all Cogs have this program?”

“Yes. All except you, that is, and the other Cog Bosses since you were all programmed from scratch.”

“This is a matter that should be looked into. In the mean time, I want you to delete the program and then just to be on the safe side, reboot 118-7's hard drive while he is still conscious to reformat it back to the way it was before this program was activated.”

“No!” 118-7 cried and renewed his struggles.

The Foreman nodded. “Yes, sir.” He pulled a cable from the computer over to 118-7, unbuttoned his suit jacket and shirt, lifted the metal plate that covered the Telemarketer's inner workings and plugged the cable into his hard drive.

“Let him go,” Roxy sobbed. “Y-you can't.”

“We can and we will,” 717-3 sneered and thus did not catch the VP looking at him curiously.

“Program deleted sir,” the Foreman reported then initiated the reboot sequence.

Seven stopped squirming and arched his back, his fists clenched tight, his limbs shaking and his mouth open in a silent scream. Then his eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp.

“Seven,” Roxy whimpered, her ears drooping.

The Sellbot was still for a moment, until his eyes flickered open. He glanced down at the straps tying him down and then at the Vice President. “Sir, I politely request that I be unrestrained.”

The VP smiled; that sounded like the old 118-7. He nodded to the Foreman who unbuckled the restraints and helped him to his feet.

“Well, 118-7. How do you feel about this Toon?”

He looked her dispassionately, approached her, tilted her chin up and kissed her. Roxy shuddered; it was so. . . cold. “Nothing. I feel nothing.”

“Prove it!” 717-3 snapped.

He smiled up at the Mr Hollywood. “Certainly, sir.” Then pulled out his Rolodex and selected a blank card. Without a second thought, he threw it at her.

Roxy cringed and fresh tears began to spill from her eyes.

“Won't you fight back?”

She shook her head.

“Why not?”

“Because,” she sniffed. “I love you.”

He laughed, a hollow laugh that could not be faked. “Still? That 118-7 is dead. It amuses me that you shed tears for he who no longer exists.”

Seven threw another card and again Roxy cringed, choking out a sob.

“This is your last chance to get in a shot. I won't even dodge.”

Again she shook her head. “No.” She sniffed again. “I won't do it.”

He stared at her coldly. “So be it.” Then threw the last card. She yelped and slumped in 717-3's grasp, unconscious.

“118-7, your mission is henceforth terminated, understood?”

Seven nodded. “Yes, sir. Understood.”

The Second-in-Command picked up the Toon and tucked her under one arm.

“As for her. . .”

 

* * *

Mercedes Paw watched the Hybrid stuff her face with the cream pie she had given her, arms folded on the table. She sighed. The poor little thing was out of place. Half Cog, half Toon? Who did she belong with? The sound of the phone ringing drew her out of her musings.

The Hybrid stopped eating and looked around for the source of the noise.

“It's only the phone. Wait here, I'll see what's up.” She went out into the hall and picked it up. “Hello?”

“Mercedes Paw?”

“Speaking.”

“This is Doctor Foster. I'm afraid I have some bad news. Roxy McSocks has just been admitted to the Hospital.”

“Oh no. How is she?”

“Well she's regained consciousness, but I don't understand it. She was attacked by a Cog, but she's acting like her heart has been broken.”

“I'll be there right away.” She put the phone down and stared at it for a few seconds, before sighing and heading back into the kitchen. “Kid. We're going to the Hospital to see your Mum.”

The Hybrid brighten. “Mum's back?”

Mercedes shook her head. “No, dear, that's not good. The Doctor told me she's a real mess.”

The Hybrid just looked confused.

She sighed. “Nevermind. You'll see what I mean.”

 

* * *

Mercedes Paw sniffed, wiped a tear from her eye and continued stroking Roxy McSock's hair. The blue cat was asleep, her head in the red bear's lap, exhausted from having cried until she could shed no more tears, and wailed until she had lost her voice.

“Miss Paw?”

She looked across to the Hybrid who perched on her stool, hugging her knees and staring into space. “Yeah, Sal, what is it?” Although they were unable to get out of her what had happened to make her so grief stricken, the blue Toon had managed to choke out a name.

“When will Mum get better?”

She looked back at Roxy. “I don't know.”

 


	11. Epilogue

118-7 stared up through the grating of the bunk bed above him at the sleeping form of his older brother, 118-6. He fiddled with the cable plugged into his left wrist as he reflected on why he could not shut himself down. Everytime he closed his eyes, he could see Roxy crying. And an all too familiar ache was starting to settle on his metaphorical heart.

He could not. . . could he? Was it possible that instead of being deleted, his feelings were only suppressed?

 

* * *

_Roxy McSocks smiled and purred when she saw 118-7 was already waiting on their bench, as usual. She ran the rest of the way and threw her arms around him._

 

* * *

“ _Look. You and I, we've both managed to put aside our differences so far. . . and. . . My Mum told me that her folks weren't happy with my Dad but she stuck with him and that's taught her, she taught me, that love is never wrong. So I don't believe this is wrong.”_

 

* * *

“ _I wonder how they'd react if I told them. . . ?”_

“ _Not well I would imagine.”_

“ _But we're not even doing anything bad.”_

_Seven sighed and caressed her cheek. “I know.”_

_Roxy smiled and purred, leaning into it. He smiled back._

 

* * *

_She sat down on the sofa beside him. As the movie began he glanced at her trying to decide whether or not to put his arm around her. A few moments later, he did. She smiled up at him, purring and snuggled closer. Seven smiled back and could not help but notice how soft and warm she was._

 

* * *

_Roxy smiled standing up on the bench. “You know, Seven. I never really did thank you properly for saving me.” She seized him by the lapels and pulled him into a kiss._

 

* * *

“Roxy,” he whimpered and wiped his tears away with the sleeve of his burgundy pyjamas.

 

* * *

_He laughed, a hollow laugh that could not be faked. “Still? That 118-7 is dead. It amuses me that you shed tears for he who no longer exists.”_

 

* * *

Seven closed his eyes, reflecting on the way he had felt then. Inevitably though, the image of Roxy in tears appeared instead. Would it never leave him? There was only one thing for it, he'd have to go to the hospital and apologise and hope she would accept it and take him back. He got quietly out of bed, exchanged his pyjamas for his suit which he had left hanging on a hook mounted onto the end of Six's bed and, crept over to the door and quietly slipped out.

 

* * *

Mercedes Paw yawned. “I'm going to get some hot chocolate, Sal, you want some?”

Sal blinked. “What's hot chocolate?”

The red bear smiled. “I'll get you some anyway.” She gently moved Roxy's head back onto the pillow and pulled the covers up to her chin, then left the room quietly closing the door behind her.

Sal sighed and went over to the window. She pulled it open and lent on the windowsill as looked down then up the street. She spotted a dejected Telemarketer standing in the middle of the street looking up at the hospital. He dropped his gaze to his feet and so did not see her.

A huge beam nearly split her face in two when she saw that the Telemarketer was wearing a scarf. That was her father! She leaned out of the window and hollered “DAD!”

He looked up, met her gaze and his eyebrows shot up.

Sal pulled the window open further and gestured for him to fly up to it. 118-7 looked hesitant, but after glancing around at the empty, moonlit street he did so.

The Hybrid was grinning like the Cheshire Cat as he climbed in through the window. She waited patiently until his feet were on the floor before launching herself at him and hugging him tightly.

“Oof! Goodness, I didn't know I deserved such a welcome.”

Sal looked confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“What do _you_ mean, after what I did to Roxy?”

“What _did_ you do?”

Seven sighed. “I see, you don't know.”

“Well whatever happened, she was too upset to tell us. Though she did give me a name.”

“What's that?”

“Sal,” she replied proudly.

He smiled despite himself and returned the hug. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Sal.”

She purred louder and hugged him tighter.

Roxy stirred. “ _Mmm Sal_?” her voice was hoarse, barely audible whisper.

“Mum! Look who's here!”

The blue Toon looked and her eyes widened. Then tears began to well up in her eyes.

“Roxy,” he began, breaking off the hug. “I. . . don't know what to say. . .”

“ _Why did you come back?_ ”

“I meant everything I said to you back there, at the time that is. But. . . for whatever reason. . . my feelings were not deleted, only suppressed. Roxy, I still love you.”

She looked like she did not know whether to believe him or not.

The Hybrid smiled. “Go on, Dad.”

Seven gave her a confused smile wondering what she had meant by that, before hesitantly approaching Roxy, leaning over her and planting a kiss on her lips. He broke off to stare hopefully into her eyes and was momentarily alarmed when he saw tears spilling from them. Then she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, pulling him down onto the bed.

“Does this mean I'm forgiven?” he asked, speaking into the pillow.

Roxy just hugged him tighter and purred.

He smiled. “I'll take that as a yes.”

The door opened and Mercedes Paw entered, a cup of hot chocolate in each hand. “Here we are Sal, I-. . .” She took in the shocked expressions of the room's occupants. “What's going on here?”

“Dad came back to apologise to Mum for putting her in hospital,” Sal piped up.

Sadie's look of surprise morphed to anger. “He did what?”

“It's not what you think,” Seven blurted out, pulling out of Roxy's arms. “No wait, it's exactly what you think. Um, how do I explain?”

“Start at the beginning?” Sal offered.

“ _Please don't hurt him,_ ” Roxy added.

“Why are you here?!”

“I love her,” the Telemarketer replied simply.

She was stunned. “. . . What?”

“I love her,” he repeated.

Mercedes half slammed the hot chocolate down onto the bedside table, seized him by the lapels and slammed him against the wall. “Is this some kind of joke?!” She snarled.

“From a Cog?” asked Sal.

“Seven!” Roxy yelped.

“No! It's not. . . I'm here aren't I? I risked a lot. . .”

The red bear stared deep into his eyes and noticed that his gaze lacked the coldness and mirthlessness it once held. “You really love her?”

“Yes.”

“What does it feel like?”

“A warm and fuzzy feeling.”

“Good gravy, it works.”

Sal and Roxy exchanged looks confusion leaving 118-7 to ask the obvious, “What. . . worked?”

Mercedes let go of his lapels and straighten his suit by way of an apology. “This was years ago. Gyro Gearloose tagged on a hidden program to the Original Cogs that would allow them to fall in love with a Toon. He theorised that they had would have used their own programming to program the next generation of Cogs, since their own programming skills were relatively poor at the time. We've been waiting for something like this to happen, though Gyro was not sure if the program even worked.”

“But. . . Why did he. . . ?”

“Why not? Scrooge just wanted them to make him money, Gyro wanted to give them, well a life.”

“I'm the first you've heard of?”

“Yes.”

“The Vice President mentioned there was a Cold Caller that fell in love with a Toon, but he had the program and his memories deleted of the incident. And. . . that sort of happened to me, which is why I attacked her.”

Mercedes smiled. “That won't work. The program appears to run separately, but is actually tagged onto your compassion program. What was deleted was the decoy, which deactivated the real program. Like pulling off the leaves of a dandelion; it appears to be gone, but the roots are still there. The Cold Caller, or whatever he is now can still love the Toon, he just needs the program reactivated. Anyway, Sal, here's your hot chocolate.”

Sal took the cup and sipped it cautiously. “Mmmmmm,” she said, her face lighting up.

Mercedes ruffled Roxy's hair. "Feeling better now?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Come on, Sal," she said grabbing her by the elbow and pulling her out of the room. “Let's give them some alone time.” She winked at them as she closed the door behind her.

Sal looked up from her drink, a hot chocolate moustache on her top lip and a look of confusion on her face. “How can they be alone if they're together?”

"Uh. . . Nevermind, kid. You'll understand when you're older.”

 

* * *

“When can I see you again?” Roxy asked as 118-7 climbed out the window.

He stopped and looked back at her then sighed. “The Vice President terminated my mission. It's life back to normal for me, I'm afraid. I can only sneak out to see you every once in a while.”

“But I can still see you again?”

The Telemarketer smiled. “Of course.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” His propellors roared to life and he ascended out of her sight.

She waited till he could no longer hear them before settling down further under the covers and closing her eyes.

 

* * *

Wilson Cheese looked up from the Toon book of Babies Names he was reading through at a knock on the door. “Enter.”

829-5, complete with new arms entered. The Master himself had had his left eye, arm and most of the left side of his head replaced, and he was wearing a new suit jacket. He looked none the worse for wear despite having passed out afterwards, and 829-5 almost found it hard to believe that he had been attacked with such ferocity.

“Master the, er, your daughter is awake.”

He smiled. “Good. I believe I have found a name for her.”

 

* * *

The Hybrid had woken up to find herself behind bars, and her hands restrained with handcuffs that were bladed on the inside. Everytime she moved her hand too much, the blades would dig into her wrists, eliciting a yelp.

She glanced around at her surroundings. There was no-one else but her. Even the cages next to hers were devoid of life. Her ears dropped as the solitude began to close in on her, then her stomach growled and she realised how painfully hungry she was. The half bear Toon drew her knees up to her chest and began to sob into them. She stopped and looked up when she heard someone approaching.

A Big Cheese in a suit identical to her own stopped outside her cell and returned her gaze.

“Hungry?” he asked softly, holding up a fruit pie.

She nodded.

He smiled and let himself in. He sat on the bed beside her, placing the cup of water he brought with him on the floor and spooned some pie before offering it to her.

Her face lit up at the flavour and she eagerly and gratefully accepted more. She licked her lips when the pie was all gone and looked at him expectantly.

Wilson Cheese blinked. “What?”

“I'm thirsty.”

“Oh. Of course.” He picked up the cup and held it for her, since her hands were restrained.

“What happens to me now?” she asked after she finished it off.

“I'm going to train you in the ways of the Bossbot, and then I shall explain your true purpose.”

“Who are you?”

“I'm your father.”

“And who am I?”

“Ursula Cheese, the first Hybrid of my attack force.”

She did not know what an attack force was, but she liked the sound of it. She smiled, “When do I start?”

 


End file.
